Archived decisions

AT A SPECIAL MEETING of the ENVIRONMENT POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE held at The Castle, Winchester on Thursday 4 April 2002.

PRESENT:

Councillors: J.K. Glen (Chairman); Mrs P.G. Banks; Mrs E.M. Byrom; J.E. Coles; C.R.H. Davidovitz; Mrs P.M. Devereux; A.G. Dowden; M.S. Geddes; K. House; P.R.C. Hutcheson; R.J. Kimber; T.G. Knight; P. Luffman; R.C. McIntosh; R.H. Price; M.J. Roberts; K.P.J. Searle; Sir James Scott; Jenny Wride.

Also in attendance: Councillor J.K. West, Executive Member without portfolio.

The Committee stood in silence as a mark of respect to the memory of the late HRH Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

52. PROJECT INTEGRA INTERIM JOINT MUNICIPAL WASTE

    MANAGEMENT STRATEGY AND FUNDING BID TO GOVERNMENT

    Pursuant to Part 3D of the Constitution (paragraph 1.15) the Committee reviewed the decision of the Executive Member for Environment made on 12 March 2002 concerning the Project Integra Interim Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy and the associated funding bid to the Government. The Committee had before it the report of the County Surveyor to the Executive Member on which his decision had been based and the published record of the decision.

    The matter had been called in by Councillors J.E. Coles, A.P. Collett, Mrs P. Dickens, A.G. Dowden, K. House and R.H. Price for the following reasons:

      (i) The report to the Executive Member only contained minimal financial information and did not consider alternative approaches;

      (ii) The report did not examine alternative methods to achieve County Council waste management objectives, specifically raising waste reduction and avoidance;

      (iii) The Policy Review Committee had already requested pre-decision scrutiny of the item.

      To facilitate discussion the Chairman advised the Committee that, at its meeting on 17 April, it would have the opportunity to express views on the Project Integra Annual Business Plan and the Household Waste Recycling Strategy.

      The County Surveyor outlined the circumstances which had led to the Executive Member making his decision. In November 2001 the Government had advised local authorities of the availability of £140m nationally to support waste management and recycling. The bidding timetable had required bids to be made by mid-March 2002 so that decisions could be made by the end of March. In the event the timetable had not been achieved by the Government.

      Meanwhile the Project Integra Business Board and the Project Integra Policy Review and Scrutiny Committee, as one of their first tasks, had begun to review the Project Integra Business Plan but it had not been possible for the Board or Scrutiny Committee to agree the Plan before the bidding deadline. The Project Integra Board were due to meet on 12 April and their views would be available to the Policy Review Committee on 17 April. In the context of the divergence between the bidding timetable and approval of the Business Plan, the Executive Member for Environment had acted on the officers' advice to bid to secure additional funding for the benefit of the County Council and its Project Integra partner authorities. The Government had subsequently issued a revised timetable on 28 March inviting bids by the end of April with a view to making their decisions on bids by the end of May. The decision of the Executive Member had been made in response to the original bidding requirements. The decision did not impact on the County Council's strategy.

      In relation to finance, the County Treasurer confirmed that the County Council's budget had been formulated to enable the County Council to meet its contractual obligations. The £2.7m referred to in the report indicated the additional investment which would be required in order to meet performance targets. A successful bid would make a significant contribution towards that end and enable other waste initiatives to proceed.

      The Committee acknowledged the circumstances which had led to the Executive Member's decision being taken earlier than anticipated. Whilst the Committee endorsed the action taken, members wished to draw the attention of the Executive to the following issues in relation to future call-ins:

    · Policy Review Committees should be advised of timing changes affecting their consideration of proposals which they have asked to consider before the Executive Member makes a decision;

    · Reasons for a matter being called-in should be reported to the Policy Review Committee;

    · Recommendations to and decisions by the Executive or Executive Members should be precise and specific for the avoidance of doubt.

    The Committee welcomed the opportunity to consider the review of the County Council's waste strategy at its meeting on 17 April. In this connection, the County Surveyor was asked to make a presentation, by way of background, to Members at that meeting in relation to Project Integra both including the County Council's role, its relationships with the unitary and district councils and the operating company, and finance and budgetary issues.

    RESOLVED:

    That the decision of the Executive Member for Environment on 12 March concerning the Project Integra Interim Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy and associated funding bid be endorsed.

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