Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors David Drew, Barry Dunning, Tim Groves Rupert Kyrle and Sarah Pankhurst

Councillors Martin Tod, Malcolm Wade and Malcolm Wallace attended as substitute Members.

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to Part 3 Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code.  Furthermore all Members with a Personal Interest in a matter being considered at the meeting should consider, having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 4 of the Code, whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, consider whether it is appropriate to leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in any matter considered at the meeting they must declare that interest at the time of the relevant debate and, having regard to the circumstances described in Part 3, Paragraph 1.5 of the County Council's Members' Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 1.6 of the Code. Furthermore Members were mindful that where they believed they had a Non-Pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at the meeting they considered whether such interest should be declared, and having regard to Part 5, Paragraph 5 of the Code, considered whether it was appropriate to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with the Code.

To receive any deputations notified under Standing Order 12.

The Select Committee received no public deputations, but the following County Councillors attended and spoke of their concerns on the proposals in the Appendix to Cabinet:

Councillor Mark Cooper
Councillor Alex Crawford
Councillor Lance Quantrill
Councillor Andy Tree
Councillor Tim Davies

Councillor Bill Withers
Councillor Jackie Porter

To receive any announcements the Chairman may wish to make.

There were no formal announcements, but the Chairman confirmed that the Task & Finish Working Group Report noted by Committee at the initial meeting was included in the pack for reference.

To pre-scrutinise the following SP25 savings proposal going to Cabinet:

- Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) (Appendix 7 for Cabinet)

The Select Committee considered a report from the Director of Universal Services (item 5 in the minute book) regarding the proposals to Cabinet on Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC’s).

The Director of Universal Services summarised the appendix, highlighting that fly-tipping was mostly done by commercial businesses rather than residents and not something that was felt at risk of increasing should the proposals be approved. The proposals had been considered for implementation in a structured way and ensured that Hampshire County Council could still meet expected demands.

During questions of officers, Members heard the following:

·         The guidance of a 7 mile maximum travel journey was used as part of the criteria, but was not a target and average journey times were looked at rather that just distance.

·         Existing capacity at the sites was used and whilst some were predicted to go over the 100% capacity, the system allowed flexibility and to react to demands as necessary.

·         Known planned housing developments had been considered and Hampshire would still have the greatest number of HWRC’s compared to many other areas nationally.

·         Day closures and hourly reductions had been considered but did not have enough financial impact/benefit.

·         Historically it had been difficult to demonstrate when development contributions are required or justified, but they were usually sought.

·         Whilst all options had been considered, only those that were close to achieving the required savings had been detailed in the report.

·         The Council still awaited government guidance on kerbside recycling and therefore any potential impacts on recycling were difficult to predict at this stage.

An amendment was proposed by Councillor Jackie Branson and seconded by Councillor Malcolm Wade as follows:

1.The Universal Services Select Committee notes the outcome of the 2024 Future Services Consultation in relation to the proposals on the future of the Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) network and disagrees with the report and its recommendations and asks Cabinet to consider alternative arrangements keeping Tier 3 and Tier 4 HWRCs open.

2. That alternative arrangement proposals come back to a future meeting of the Universal Services Select Committee, to further scrutinise the outcomes, before any recommendations are made to close any HWRC sites in Hampshire.

and this was considered and discussed during debate.

During debate, Members agreed that some of the costings on alternatives discussed in paragraph 32 of the report could be further explored and felt that the proposals overall were a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

The Committee was also concerned about the potential impacts on recycling as well as fly-tipping and some Members shared their disappointment at carbon assessments and impacts not being explored as much as they could have.

Members were supportive of a more joined-up approach with Parish and District Councils and felt that a collaborative approach was vital going forward and needed further exploration. Some Members also shared reservations on working towards a legal minimum service when there was no statutory guidance as to what this entailed and included. Accessibility was also another consideration and ensuring the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

To review the current work programme for the Universal Services Select Committee.

The Select Committee considered the Work Programme (item 6 in the minute book)  and it was requested that an update on Parking Management be provided at a future meeting. Members also requested an information item on Project Integra and Authorities working together around waste collection.

RESOLVED

The Universal Services Select Committee discussed and agreed potential items for the work programme, to be prioritised and allocated by the Chairman of the Universal Services Select Committee in consultation with the Director of Universal Services.