Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor E Norman.

We have appointed Councillor Kelly, Chair and Councillor Tebbutt, Vice Chair for the ensuing municipal year.  Councillors Rush and Vincent abstained from the vote.

The Chair welcomed the new Members to the Authority and, following introductions, we have extended our thanks to those Members that have left the Authority.  We have noted the Office Managers’ report and agreed to consider the arrangements for Induction referred to in the other reports contained in this Agenda.  We have authorised Officers to send letters of thanks and appreciation to the outgoing Members.

The minutes were noted and agreed.

We have considered a report from the Office Manager on issues relating to ELWA’s directorship on ELWA Limited and have:-

(i)  appointed Councillor Corbett as ELWA’s ‘A’ Director on the ELWA Limited Board for the 2009/10  municipal year.  Councillors Rush and Vincent abstained from the vote;

(ii)  authorised the ‘A’ Director to act as ELWA’s representative at the Annual General Meeting of ELWA Ltd;

(iii)  agreed that such appointment take effect following prior consultation with the “B” shareholder;

(iv)  authorised the Chair to nominate an alternative ‘A’ Director should the need arise.  This decision was taken on majority vote.

The Executive Director offered a separate briefing to Councillor Corbett.

We have noted the agreed programme of meetings and discussed the question of visiting the key facilities and agreed that we would benefit from an induction and workshop to be held on the same date during July.  We have asked officers to arrange and provide briefing packs based upon the Boroughs’ 5 year plans.  Following a question from the Vice Chair about the sale of compost processed at Aveley 1 site, we have also agreed to meet for a tour of the landfill sites on the morning of 29 September 2009.

We have received the Monitoring Officer’s report and commentary and agreed the recommendations regarding amendments to the Constitution.  We have also agreed that Councillors Kelly, Murphy, Rush and Dunn will be responsible for answering questions at their respective constituent councils’ proceedings on behalf of the Authority.

We have received the Managing Director’s report, together with Consultants’ Report on the review of the Authority.  The Managing Director provided us with a full commentary on the actions of the Management Board to-date and the matters to be considered by us as well as the next steps to be taken, legal and financial implications and issues covered by risk analysis. 

We have discussed the consultants’ report (dated May 2009) and commentary, presented by John Bruce Jones, we have agreed that this is the right thing to do to revitalise ELWA, transforming it from its original role into one that meets present day needs.  We have also agreed that the Members will meet informally to discuss the governance issue and have asked the Office Manager to contact the Chair’s office with regard to making those arrangements.  Consideration will need to be given to the Authority’s Constitution.

We have agreed the short term changes to the Management Board and agreed to assemble a new Board with four instead of two environment directors and that we ask the constituent councils to ensure consistently strong attendance from the four chief officers at Board meetings.  We have therefore agreed to receive an annual report on the boroughs’ appointed officers’ attendance at Management Board meetings.

We have agreed that the new Management Board, which includes David Woods as Managing Director in place of Rob Whiteman and Len Norton as the Director of Environment for Redbridge, brings forward proposals for the implementation of the other recommendations in the Consultants’ report.

The Chair thanked John Bruce Jones for presenting the Consultants’ report.

We have received and discussed at length the Executive Director’s report providing an update on the development of the 5 year Service Delivery Plan.

In commentary the Executive Director referred us to the fundamental policy issues set out in the report, strategy, borough waste plans for 2010-2014/15, the next steps regarding the climate change agenda, partnership communications, the contractors’ proposals and the financial implications.  In particular he drew our attention to paragraph 3.2 relating to recycling and diversion from landfill targets and also the need for the boroughs to come together to generate cross borough understanding and co-operation in respect of their 5 year plans.  Round table meetings with the Contractors had taken place and further reports would be forthcoming on main issues being the possible provision of a new waste disposal infrastructure in East London and an increase in supplements under the payment mechanism and potential a dispute about legal interpretation of the contract.

The Chair and Vice Chair commented on recycling performance and the need to increase recycling materials collected.

We have noted the report and recommendations at paragraph 9.1 and agreed to hold an informal meeting or workshop in July to consider borough waste plans for the next five years and have agreed to visit the existing waste facilities.

We have received the Assistant Executive Directors report and appendices stating that green waste volumes had improved recycling performance for April and that stocks of recycling materials had been managed at normal operating levels due to stability in the recyclate market.  The Reuse and Recycling Centres and Key facilities were having a wider range of issues monitored by ELWA officers and recruitment was underway for the Waste Recycling Officer’s replacement.

We have discussed fly control on and around the Bio MRF sites.

The report was noted.

We have received and noted the Assistant Executive Director’s report. 

In commentary he added that the boroughs had started the year very well in respect of NI targets, that diversion from landfill was up at 59%, the amount of waste had been higher than expected and there would be a surplus of LATS allowances in the first target year.  Commentary was also provided on Controlled Waste Regulations and Waste Batteries & Accumulators Regulations 2009.  We are investigating the rolling out of battery collection by DHL a subject raised by one of the Members from Barking & Dagenham. 

We have received the Assistant Executive Director’s report on approaches received for disposal of the four closed landfill sites.

We have discussed the position of all four sites and the Executive Director has provided us with history and responded to questions regarding liabilities and insurance. 

We have agreed the selection and appointment of advisors and allocation of up to £5,000 to consider options regarding the disposal of Gerpins Lane and similarly for Hall Farm.  We have also agreed the selection and appointment of advisors and allocation of up to £10,000 to consider options relating to the best way forward for the use and or disposal of Aveley 1 Site.

As part of the induction for new Members, we have agreed to visit the closed landfill sites during the morning of our next Authority meeting on 29 September.

We have noted the report containing an analysis of expenditure, income and contingency and reserves.  The Finance Director reported that an overall under-spend of £387,000 was attributed to budget under-spends in respect of lower tonnage levels, better diversion from landfill, savings on tonne mileage, recycling initiatives and premises related expenditure.  Commercial waste had generated further savings and he provided an update on the Heritable Bank position.  Final revenue under-spend and unutilised contingency for the year will be carried forward and used to help minimise any levy increase for 2010.

We have received the Finance Director's report advising on the regulations for the production of the Annual Statement of Accounts and subsequent changes and note that the Accounts reflect the variances mentioned in the Outturn Report.  We also note that this document will be reviewed by the external auditors and may be subject to change.  We have discussed the report with the External Auditor, Chris Hughes and we have approved the 2008/09 Draft Statement of Accounts.

We have received the Finance Director’s Report together with the draft Annual Governance Statement.  We have been advised that the Board have considered the statement and that their comments have been included in it.  We have approved the draft Annual Governance Statement for the financial year ended 31 March 2009.

We have noted that the Action plan has highlighted areas for further consideration and continued development of best practice in connection with contract monitoring, risk assessment/management and business continuity arrangements and Review of Member and Board Governance.

We have noted the Finance Director’s report and the overspend of £5,000, against estimated budget, for the month of April.  The Finance Director explained that it was too early to draw up trends but the main variation related to the higher than expected payment to Shanks.east London because of higher tonnages of waste for disposal.

Received the Finance Director’s Report and Appendix on the internal audit process which provided a brief summary of the audit coverage for 2008/09, a list of the audits due to be undertaken during 2009/10 and those proposed for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2012.  He reported that following a series of audits, the conclusion was that the Authority’s framework was generally sound and that core financial systems operated effectively.  Systems were in place and for the most part, these were sound.

We have noted the audit coverage for 2008/09 and agreed the audit coverage for 2009/10 both as outlined in the report.

Chair: ………………………………..

Dated:  ………………………………..