Agenda item
Ubico Business Plan 2025-26 (presentation)
- Meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Wednesday, 4th December, 2024 5.30 pm (Item 72.)
- View the background to item 72.
Purpose:
To provide a Presentation on Business Plan engagement.
Recommendations:
That the Committee resolves to:
1. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 11 December 2024.
Invited:
Councillor Lidia Arciszewska – Executive Member for Environment
Bill Oddy – Assistant Director, Commercial Development
Beth Boughton – Managing Director, Ubico
Minutes:
The Managing Director of Ubico provided a Presentation on Business Plan engagement.
A presentation that contained the five pillars of Ubico’s business plan engagement was shared and included elements of staff engagement, operational performance goals including benchmarking, reduction of climate emissions, waste reduction measures and business innovation.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee:
· The choice of using HVO as a fossil fuel alternative was an issue that the Council needed to consider.
· The collection of bio-plastics was also a further option for the Council to consider and how to collect these items could be discussed further.
· In terms using proactive measures and emailing the Council to explain why a street was missed during rubbish/recycling collections, the issue would be discussed with Officers as the data did exist but it was a case of how to find an efficient way to get that information through from the Ubico back office and then communicated to the Council.
· Reduction of pesticide usage and targets was again a Council decision and there was ongoing work around looking for partners to see what new alternatives could reduce pesticide use.
· Information was provided on cross boundaries for waste/recycle vehicles which was provided in conjunction with Council costs, achievements and performance. Pilot projects were underway to increase information around fleet management and to ensure unit costs could be provided.
· Ubico did have long term sickness staff issues which meant that there were agency staff in place and this caused a loss of knowledge at times. To solve the issue, teams were made up of a mixture of experienced and temporary staff. There were not many vacancies; however, Ubico were looking to build a pool of staff to cover holiday and sickness and have spare drivers. It was confirmed that staff sickness issues were not around work-related injuries or work related; issues were often related to mental health and stress.
· In terms of emergency plans, areas not provided with service due to inclement weather conditions were being constantly surveyed to see when access could be provided and services reinstated. Work would be done with Publica colleagues to ensure any areas that consistently encountered issues could be proactively dealt with.
· Glass recycling and heavy bin (due to uncollected bins) communication was mixed and Councillors requested clarity. Ubico would look into this matter. Members welcomed this as there was general confusion around glass recycling and it was confirmed that residents should separate glass from other recycling accordingly in the appropriate collection bin.
· Technology around bar codes was expensive and the INCAB system could provide similar information but it would take longer as it was a manual process. Ubico would take this way and consider possible options.
· Ubico was updated on changing central government regulation and meeting with Officers on a regular basis to discuss what needed to be done.
RESOLVED that the Committee noted the report and agreed to submit the following recommendations to the Executive on 11 December 2024:
1. That the Council asks that Ubico reviews its policy on the use of pesticides and herbicides.
2. That the Council asks that Ubico reviews the content of the HVO (hydrogenated vegetable oil) fuel to assess whether it contains palm oil.
3. That the Council asks that Ubico reviews flood support and emergency plans in areas with frequent flooding to address provisions for missed bin collections in the instance of flooding.
4. That the Council considers how it communicates with its residents on how to recycle glass, for instance by including this information in the council tax leaflet.