Hart Borough Council Cabinet Meeting

The minutes of 3 October 2024 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Apologies had been received from Councillor Collins.

No declarations made.

No announcements.

None.

This report set out proposals to extend the current joint waste collection contract with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (BDBC) and Serco from October 2025. The report also set out the proposal for Hart District Council (HDC) to deploy a mandatory weekly food waste collection service from October 2025, ahead of the Government statutory date of 31 March 2026. Both proposals are key decisions given their scope and scale, and the associated cost implications required for approval are included under the 'Finance and Resource Implications' section of this report.  

Questions were raised concerning:

·         Whether the proposed option had been costed against alternative providers

·         The type of options considered and the basis for the decision making, such as costs, legislative, impact on residents

·         Details on the proposed food waste collection containers

·         Location of the food waste processing facility

·         Communication with residents about the new food waste collection service and any changes introduced by Hampshire County Council

Members were advised:

·         Waste collection service performance has significantly improved over recent years

·         a full options appraisal analysis was undertaken by WSP

·         The S151 Officer concurred that this was the best value for money approach

·         Risk remains in terms of future funding as detailed in the report

·         The final recommendation is for Council to approve as estimated net overall financial impact that will hit our medium-term financial strategy

·         The risk of a negative impact on residents from changing providers was also considered

·         Food waste would be taken to a facility within Hampshire near Basingstoke.

Proposed by: Cllr Quarterman, seconded by Cllr Neighbour.

Decision

Cabinet:

i.              Approved the extension and variation of the joint contract with Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council with Serco for the collection of waste for an eight-year period from October 2025.

ii.            Approved the deployment of a mandatory weekly food waste collection service, in line with the Environment Act 2021, from October 2025.

iii.           Recommended to Council to approve a net budget increase of £0.5m in 2025/26 and a further £0.4m in 2026/27 within the Medium Term Financial Strategy to reflect the estimated additional net costs of the contract extension from October 2025  

iv.           Recommended to Council the approval of an initial capital budget of £1.59m to acquire food waste vehicles and other waste vehicles necessary to commence the contract extension period, funded from new burdens funding and other HDC funds to be determined in the budget setting process

v.            Recommended to Council the approval of a capital budget of £0.3m to acquire food waste containers and bins, to be funded from new burdens funding

Cabinet was requested to note the risk register report as well as the comment from O&S Committee regarding the rating change in relation to upcoming changes within the planning arena. Members were comfortable with the amendment to this rating and the proposed mitigation.

Members noted:

·         The draft National Planning Policy Framework has been published and so government intentions are clearer

·         Cabinet will receive a paper on the Local Plan in January.

·         The rating for waste was also red, but the new waste contact detailed  is part of the planned mitigation

·         Government allocation of additional funds for experienced planners could impact local recruitment and retention

Members queried:

·         If the report format could include a rating on how comfortable we are with the proposed mitigation measures

·         Risks around recruitment and retention.

Members were advised:

·         Wider recruitment and retention issues are monitored closely, and action taken where appropriate to mitigate the risks, such as hybrid working, higher salaries.

The recommendation was amended to include the word ‘additional’.

Proposed by: Cllr Neighbour, seconded by Cllr Radley

Decision

Cabinet noted the risk register report and confirmed risks were within tolerance and that no additional remediation plans were required.

Cabinet received an update on the Council’s performance indicator results of Quarter 2 2024/2025 (1 July 2024 – 30 September 2024). 

Members queried the explanations for KPI ratings and the colour coding and asked for greater clarity.

It was agreed that an explanation of KPI 16 would be provided to Members and any errors corrected prior to O&S.

Decision

Cabinet noted the performance indicator report for Quarter 2 2024/2025.  

Cabinet received the Q2 Forecast 2024/25, Revenue, Capital and Treasury Outturn.The Finance Manager updated Cabinet on the projected outturn, capital overview, project overview and treasury management position, emphasising that:

·         The forecast net revenue outturn is surplus £1.4m against a budget of £13.0m while the Capital expenditure is forecast to be underspent by £3.9m against a budget of £9.4m.

·         Capital - underspend is forecast to be £3.9m. Several projects will not spent in this year.

·         Revenue - pressures and savings discussed in Q1 continue, in the most part into Q2.

·         A model to assess potential interest on investments has been built.

·         Surplus and deficit were outlined in greater detail in the appendix.

The proposed budget changes were explained:

·         New finance system: maintaining access to legacy data, funding a new Finance trainee.

·         IT improvements: to strengthen SharePoint controls to mitigate security, data and privacy breaches.

·         Countryside: to repurpose funds from one Fleet Pond project to another.

·         UK Shared Prosperity Fund: forecasted savings will be re-allocated in line with the scheme terms.

Members queried:

·         The breakdown of costs for the heat pumps project

·         The increase in parking revenue

·         Interest earned and whether it could be included in next year’s budget setting process

·         How the new finance post would be funded

Members were advised that:

·         It was confirmed that no new borrowing has been taken out in this financial year

·         £400K of interest earned has been put into the budget for next year

·         The amount of interest earned will reduce over time as the reserves we held reduce

·         The new finance post would be funded from the ongoing Capita budget

Members asked for a briefing on the bringing in-house of services.

Proposed by: Cllr Quarterman, seconded by Cllr Neighbour.

Decisions

Cabinet: 

i.              Noted the projected Revenue outturn for 2024-25

ii.            Noted the forecast Capital position for 2024-25

iii.           Noted the Treasury Management position at 30th Sep 2024

iv.           Approved Budget changes – New Finance System, IT and Countryside. Approve new Finance Trainee post

v.            Noted UK Shared prosperity update

Cabinet considered and amended the work programme.

It was noted:

·         that the Planning Performance Report due at O&S may be amended before presentation at Cabinet

·         The Heathland Report may be delayed as the information to enable a meaningful decision will not be available for January, an interim briefing papers for all Members of Cabinet and O&S will be provided.

It was agreed:

·         A new report on the UKSPF report to be added to the January Cabinet work programme.

Councillor’s Bailey and Quarterman declared an interest in UKSPF both having family members involved in bids.