Agenda item
Consideration of the introduction of Waste & Recycling Container Delivery Charging
Purpose
To present the Cabinet with the results of a review which has been completed on the numbers and costs of delivering waste and recycling containers to households in the District, and propose options to introduce a charge for container deliveries.
Recommendation
(a) That Cabinet considers the options and reviews whether or not delivery charges for waste and recycling containers should be introduced as set out in this report; and
(b) That, subject to (a) above, Cabinet recommends to Council its preferred price point options (1, 2 or 3) in Annex A or any alternate charging rate with an effective date of 1 December 2021.
The Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee met on 30 September 2021 to review the proposal and were supportive of the introduction, but put forward that the lowest rate of charge (Option 1), should be considered by Cabinet for the introduction.
Minutes:
Members received a report from the Business Manager - Contracts which presented Cabinet with the results of a review which had been completed on the numbers and costs of delivering waste and recycling containers to households in the district, and proposed options to introduce a charge for container deliveries.
The report provided details on the methods of recycling collections, the services delivered by the Council and the containers provided to households in order for them to access the services. The ongoing demand for containers and the financial impact of this had lead officers to review how this service was managed and financed. Members were also given a breakdown of the numbers of each type of container delivered in 2020/21, and the associated costs, the pricing options and Container Delivery Charges in other authorities.
Officers had provided a number of options for Cabinet to consider and these were outlined from section 2.3 of the report, along with the benefits if charging were introduced.
An alternative option was that the Council could continue with the current practice of not charging for containers. However, due to the high demand and significant costs, this option was not recommended.
The report was considered by the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 30 September 2021 and the comments noted at that meeting were as follows:
The Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee were supportive of the introduction, but put forward that the lowest rate of charge (Option 1), should be considered by Cabinet for the introduction.
The Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor MacRae introduced the report and explained that the Council was spending a great deal on the service at present. He also advised Members that officers were looking into the potential of developers using S106 money to deliver an initial issue of containers for new build properties. Councillor MacRae proposed the recommendations, specifying Option 1 as the Cabinet’s preferred price point.
This was seconded by Councillor Harvey.
Councillor Prosser supported the introduction of charging but raised a concern that the Council had recently removed some local recycling points. Councillor MacRae confirmed that the charge would be for additional containers and if a household needed a larger capacity bin, they could request it.
Councillor Cole advised that he had been unable to attend the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and highlighted that the report did not detail any potential loss to recycling rates if this scheme was introduced. He also raised a concern that S106 money should not be used for services covered by Council Tax.
Councillor MacRae advised that officers had only just started to look at the options relating to S106 contributions and no decision had been made as yet. With regards to recycling rates, he assured Councillor Coles that these were increasing.
Councillor Davies reiterated the importance of the message ‘Reduce, Re-use, Recycle’ and reminded Members that it was imperative to encourage residents to reduce waste in the first instance.
Having been proposed and duly seconded, it was
Resolved that Cabinet’s view was that charges for waste and recycling containers should be introduced as set out in the report, and
Recommended to Council the Cabinet’s preferred price point as Option 1 with an effective date of 1 December 2021.
Supporting documents:
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