Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: via Remote Video Link

Contact: Email: committeeservices@horsham.gov.uk  Direct Line: 01403 215465

Items
No. Item

28.

Notes of previous meeting pdf icon PDF 210 KB

To receive the notes of the meeting held on 10 May 2021

Minutes:

The notes of the previous meeting on 10 May 2021 were received.

29.

Sustainable Procurement Charter

To discuss the adoption of the Charter which will make the Council’s requirements relating to socio-economic and environmental issues transparent to business supplying goods, works and services to the Council

Minutes:

Councillors received a presentation from the Environmental Coordination Manger and Procurement Manager on the new Sustainable Procurement Charter being proposed for Horsham District Council.

 

Public procurement is highly regulated with numerous pieces of legislation that relate to sustainable procurement and social value including: Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Public Services (social Value) Act 2012 and the Modern Slavery Act 2015 among others. The aim of the charter is to clearly enhance and collate these requirements into one document that we can present to potential suppliers, and officers noted that the recent National Procurement Policy Statement (June 2021) widely reflects what HDC’s Procurement charter aims to do.

 

The aims of the charter are not in themselves ground-breaking, most larger companies will be required to report to national government already and are familiar with complying with social value requirements in tender processes.  Most local authorities already have some form of policy or Charter in place already. The charter broadly reflects the aims set out in the Corporate plan and therefore many of HDC’s existing contracts already have similar requirements written into their specification however the charter will make this less ad hoc ensuring best practice is more consistently followed.

 

The aims of the charter has been developed with input from across HDC as well as looking at the practices of other councils, it was originally intended to focus solely on Sustainability and cutting carbon emission however this was expanded to include elements of Social value to better mirror national legislation and practices of other local authorities. 69% of HDC’s carbon footprint is out of our direct control and can only be calculated through proxy data, the reporting requirement set out in the charter will allow the council to better know the actual values of these emissions and should allow HDC to monitor and ensure year on year reductions in CO2 emissions.

 

The charter has been designed with a tiered approach to ensure that requirements are proportionate to the value of the contract and there is no suggestion that the charter will increase costs unless there is a specific requirement in the contracts specification e.g. mandating the used of electric vehicles.

 

While the tiers are set with financial thresholds it will remain flexible allowing the Council to incorporate it more completely for smaller contracts if they are deemed to be high risk in relation to emissions or social value. It is not believed that the charter will be detrimental to local and SME businesses as they can often fulfil some of the social value aspects more easily than larger businesses.

 

Councillors asked if the charter would change practices significantly and how success could be measured; on the whole the charter is collating current best practice and legislation so should not change the procurement process greatly except to make requirements more clear and visible to officers and potential suppliers. The main change will come in the management of contracts with the collation of data which will allow us to better manage or carbon emissions.

 

There  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

30.

Trade Waste Opportunity

Minutes:

The Director of Community Services and Head of Finance and Performance informed councillors of a potential trade waste opportunity that is going to cabinet under urgency rules as there is a very short procurement timeline form the potential client (WSCC), this has been approved by the chair of Overview and scrutiny.

 

The Council had been approached by WSCC to participate in a tender to be the recommended supplier of trade wase services to WSCC schools and other WSCC premises across the district and potentially Mid Sussex and Crawley too. The contract on offer is three years plus a possible extension of a further two, this has the potential to increase the annual profitability of the service by £50-£70k for the period of the contract. 

 

There was discussion around the financial implication on the council and the Head of Finance and Performance informed councillors that in his view, the logistical risks involved were probably higher than the financial risks. Councillors also asked questions on who the current supplier to WSCC was and how confident officers were that we could secure the contract with WSCC. The Director of Community Services and Head of Finance and Performance indicated that we would not be competing against other local authorities in the tender process and that the results of the tender would be known before the end of July 2021.

31.

Food Waste

To receive a food waste update from the Head of Parking & Waste on the following:

 

·         Consultation

·         Ricardo Report

·         Trial

Minutes:

Councillors received and update from Recycling & Waste Strategy Manager on the current food waste consultation. There was a member briefing on the 29th July and another will take place on the 13th July giving more detailed results from the consultation.

 

The council is considering a  small trial (up to 200 households) of the 1-2-3 model of waste collection, this will include a range of property types including flats, to assess the real world viability of the model and check the 140l bin capacity is an appropriate size; this would also include an opt-in option for the collection of absorbent hygiene products. The Councils doorstepping team will speak to trial households face to face for feedback and the composition of the general waste and food waste collected will be analysed. 

 

There was discussion around the appropriateness of food waste collection for all households with some having the ability to home compost and therefore process waste at home, while home composting is the preferred option for food waste it looks likely that food waste collection will be required nationally in the near future.

32.

WEEE and Textiles

To receive an update on the recently introduced textiles and small electricals recycling collection service

Minutes:

Councillors received and update from the Recycling & Waste Strategy Manager on the WEE waste and textile recycling service trial. The project has now been launched and will continue for 6 months with the potential to be extended. There have been over 1000 collections booked with 94% of those being on through the online self-serve portal and in the initial 4 week period 2.4 tonnes of small electrical goods, 3.17 tonnes of batteries and 3.74 tonnes of textiles were collected.

 

The scheme has highlighted the importance of the e-newsletter as a method of driving traffic to the website, the success of direct communication (hangers and fliers) and how having a focal point (the pink van) can create a buzz around a new service.

33.

Re-Use

To receive a briefing from the Head of Parking & Waste

Minutes:

Councillors received and update from Recycling & Waste Strategy Manager on the launch of the re-use initiative. The launch date has been pushed back several times as a result of COVID as well as other issues with launch now taking place in July. The project aims to divert 49 tonnes if furniture from entering the waste stream. The trial will last for 9 months with the aim to open the first pop-up shop in September or earlier if there is sufficient stock.

 

The Container being used will be painted this coming week and the scheme will be promoted through both HDC and WSCC channels. The Reuse Initiative Support Officer is now in post and the council already has a volunteer signed up.

34.

Forward Plan Extract for the Environment, Waste and Recycling Portfolio pdf icon PDF 128 KB

To note the Forward Plan extract (if any) for the Environment, Recycling and Waste Portfolio

Minutes:

The Forward Plan extract was noted.