Agenda item

To receive and consider report 156/08 of the Strategic Director.

The Committee received and considered report 156/08 of the Strategic Director.

The Strategic Director reported that the main problem with the implementation of the Brown Bin scheme had been that the customer record database (called the Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) ) did not match the financial records database (Agresso). He commented that this had been due to Officer error and that the system had not been set up to address this problem. It was reported that last year there was around £40,000 outstanding debt and that the figure for this year was lower, but was still above £10,000, although the precise debt could not be calculated until a full reconciliation between CRM and Agresso was completed.

In response to a question the Strategic Director confirmed that whether residents had received invoices for the service was a question to be answered as part of the reconciliation. He advised that if a resident deliberately chose not to pay for the service ultimately the service could be withdrawn with the bin being removed.  One Member questioned whether this was possible, given that the Vale was supposed to provide waste collection service. The Strategic Director explained that there was no duty on the Council to collect garden waste and that this was a discretionary service

With regards to the Action Plan, Members commented that it was disappointing that the deadline for a number of the actions had passed, yet no progress appeared to have been made.

One Member commented that the recovery of the outstanding debt was going to be a large administrative operation and questioned whether residents could be given an incentive to set up direct debits. The Strategic Director commented that around 3% of users paid by direct debit. Members discussed the possibility of introducing a reduction for residents who paid by direct debit, to include those who chose to pay council tax by direct debit. One Member suggested that those already paying council tax by direct debit and are known to have brown bins should be encouraged to pay for their brown bin by direct debit also. The Strategic Director commented that any arrangements on council tax would have to be agreed with the other agencies, County Council, Thames Valley Police for whom the Vale acts as collecting agent. In respect of the brown bins however he agreed to look into the possibility of a reduction for direct debit payments.

One Member suggested that instead of offering a reduction for direct debit payers those who chose not to pay by direct debit could be charged more.

One Member questioned whether the Committee could be reassured that the remedial action numbered (1) in the Action Plan was being done. Secondly, he suggested that the bins should not have been delivered until the payments had been received.  Finally he advised that he hoped that in the future Officers would ensure that the financial procedures that were in place before rolling out schemes to residents.

The Strategic Director commented that the financial regulations were going to be reviewed and enforced. Officers would be expected to comply with them or face disciplinary action.

One Member questioned what had prompted this action plan to come about, given that a question had been put to Council some time ago. The Strategic Director advised that Officers had been given an opportunity to take remedial action, however it had been felt that little progress had been made in twelve months. The Member commented that he had raised this issue with the portfolio holder a year ago and felt that action should have been taken earlier.