Agenda item

To consider a report from the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment, which asks the Select Committee to scrutinise savings proposals for the Economy, Transport and Environment budget that have been developed as part of the Transformation to 2021 (Tt2021) Programme.

The Committee considered a report and presentation from the Director of Economy, Transport and Environment and Senior Finance Business Partner, which outlined the detailed savings proposals for Economy, Transport and Environment that had been developed as part of the Transformation to 2021 (Tt2021) Programme.

The Senior Finance Business Partner highlighted the general position of the County Council and £480 million of savings identified going forward over the next few years. Savings proposals had been put forward as part of a consultation over the summer, in which 5500 responses had been received.

There had been an assumption that the Council tax threshold would remain at 3%, but this had fallen back down to 2% after forecasts had already been estimated.

The capital budget for Economy, Transport and Environment (ETE) was significant and now bigger than the revenue budget. The Director went through the current budget and amounts allocated for areas such as service areas and sources of spending, with some staff costs being covered by external funding. The majority of savings would be achieved from the waste budget, and in particular removing the current subsidies for District Council recycling.  In relation to HCC waste operations, in addition to plans to reduce the overall cost of the service through the waste contract, a further example highlighted was the cost of disposing of wood brought to the HWRCs, on which £.2.25 million was currently spent each year, which was why it was proposed to start charging for larger wood items.

Whilst no reductions were proposed to the highways maintenance service, it was currently proposed in relation to the Parish Lengthsman scheme that alternative methods of funding would be looked at. It was acknowledged that relationships with District and Borough Councils may be strained in the short term by the County Council’s proposals, but the County Council were keen to find long-term advantages to suit all.

During questions, Members learned that:

• 1/5 of recycled material was rejected due to contamination, doubling the haulage costs. These costs would in future be passed to the District Councils;
• There was no current proposals to further reduce bus subsidies;
• The County Council was open to all methods of alternative funding for the Parish Lengthsman scheme;
• ‘DIY waste’ was not something that was recognised in law but any waste classed as ‘home improvement’ was not considered to fall within the legal definition of household waste;
• There was evidence that reported fly-tipping incidents had increased while volumes of fly tipped material had decreased.   This was probably due to changes in the methods of reporting, changes to how districts classified fly tipping and litter, and greater public awareness
• Whilst some suggestions and proposals had been taken to Project Integra (PI) in the past regarding new ways of working, these had been rejected.  The County Council had no plans to leave PI, but instead proposes that the financial framework needs to be radically updated.  If this cannot be achieved then HCC’s eventual departure  may become inevitable in the longer-term if it was not fit for purpose;
• Incinerators were already at maximum contract capacity, meaning that increasing recycling is even more important.

During debate, some Members felt that a lack of alternatives to achieve savings had been provided along with insufficient granularity regarding how the waste savings would be achieved.

Members noted that further consultation would happen before any decisions were made about charging for wood waste, which would explain the complexities and costs around processing wood.

RESOLVED:

The Select Committee supported the recommendations being proposed to the Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment in section 2 of the report.

Voting

Favour: 7

Against: 4

Abstentions: 2