Agenda and minutes

To record the attendance of substitute members, if any, who have been authorised to attend in accordance with the provisions of standing order 17(1), with notification having been given to the proper officer before the start of the meeting and to receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from:

·      Vale Councillor Katie Finch; substitute Chris Palmer

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the committee meeting held on 10 March 2016 (attached). 

To consider the outcomes of actions agreed at previous meetings.

To update on matters referred to Cabinet, district Scrutiny committees or other meetings or fora.

The committee agreed that the minutes of the meeting on 10 March 2016 were an accurate record of the meeting and the Chair signed them. There were no outstanding matters arising or referrals.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting; and of any other relevant interests.

None.

To receive notification of any matters, which the chair determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair.

None.

Any statements and/or petitions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

None.

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

The committee reviewed the current programme and agreed to hold an additional meeting on 2 August to consider the temporary accommodation strategy.

To consider the report of the head of corporate strategy (attached)

The committee considered the report of the head of corporate strategy setting out the performance of Biffa Municipal Limited (Biffa) in delivering the household waste collection, street cleansing and ancillary services contract in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse from 1 January to 31 December 2015.

Tony Harbour, and Elaine Ware, South and Vale Cabinet members for waste, introduced this item. Also present to answer questions were Clare Kingston, head of corporate strategy, Ian Matten, waste and parks service manager together with Biffa representatives Brian Ashby, regional manager, Scott Newman, business manager and Ian Gillott, operations manager.

In terms of overall customer satisfaction, Biffa’s performance had achieved a rating of 3.88 which was classified as fair. However, taking into account that 87% of residents were satisfied or very satisfied with the waste collection service, the reduced number of formal complaints and the fact that the combined overall satisfaction score was only 0.01 point away from a good rating, the head of service had rated overall customer satisfaction as good.

In response to questions and issues raised by the committee, it was reported that:

·         Steps taken to reduce contamination of recycling collections by nappies and food waste, included a sticker campaign and a leaflet for new residents setting out what should go in each bin.  Staff also visually checked recycling bins for contaminants.

·         Approximately 17,000 new bins would be issued to households this year.

·         Parish councils were asked to identify locations requiring deep cleaning.

·         Biffa’s response to fly tipping was not currently a key performance target although discussions were taking place about new targets. However reports of fly tipping were assessed initially by environmental health for any evidence and then passed to Biffa so this would need be taken into account when setting targets.

·         Biffa’s vehicles were maintained every six weeks.  However the fleet was ageing and the number of breakdowns was increasing.  Accordingly the replacement of the fleet was under consideration.

Members complimented Biffa’s representatives on the service provided.  They also requested that the leaflet for new residents should be circulated to all residents, Parish and Town Councils, libraries and to all councillors.

RESOLVED: to recommend the Cabinet members for waste to award a “good” performance rating to Biffa Municipal Limited for its performance in delivering the household waste collection, street cleansing and ancillary services contract in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse in 2015.

To consider the report of the head of corporate strategy (attached)

The committee considered the report of the head of corporate strategy setting out the performance of Sodexo Limited in delivering the grounds maintenance services contract in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse from 1 January to 31 December 2015.

Tony Harbour, and Elaine Ware, South and Vale Cabinet members for grounds maintenance, introduced this item. Also present to answer questions were Clare Kingston, head of corporate strategy, Ian Matten, waste and parks service manager together with Sodexo representatives Mark Hibbs, regional director (south) and Kevin Harkness, contract manager.

The overall customer satisfaction rating for the cleanliness and maintenance of the council owned parks and open spaces was 71% compared with a target of 85%.  However, the majority of comments from dissatisfied customers related to concerns with the sites rather than the quality of grounds maintenance and so were not within Sodexo’s control.

In response to questions and issues raised by the committee, it was reported that:

·         Sodexo’s depot was in East Hendred with a satellite depot near Wallingford. 

·         Under the contract, Sodexo was not required to collect and dispose of the cut grass.  To do so would add considerably to the cost.  Some of the grass cutting equipment used was designed to mulch the grass as it cuts.

The committee requested that the survey for the customer satisfaction key performance target be reviewed to ensure that issues outside of Sodexo’s control were excluded.

RESOLVED: to recommend the Cabinet members for grounds maintenance to award a “good” performance rating to Sodexo Limited for its performance in delivering the grounds maintenance services contract in South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse in 2015.