Receive (if any)

An apology was received from Councillor Ray Best.

The Sub-Committee also received an apology from the Cabinet Member for Environment Councillor Barry Mugglestone who had a prior commitment that he was attending.

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.  Members may still declare an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no disclosures of interests.

Report attached.

At the request of Members, the sub-committee received a performance update on the FCC Waste Contract. The report provided an overview of the procurement, award and first year of the contract’s operation.

The integrated waste, recycling and street cleansing contract was awarded in January 2022, and commenced in October 2023. 

The award of the integrated contract for Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing was agreed by Cabinet in January 2022, with the successful bidder being Urbaser Ltd (now absorbed into FCC Environment). 

The Sub-Committee reviewed the following contractmonitoring process that is carried out in a number of different ways: 

·      Monthly report from FCC: The raw data is accessible by Council officers to enable it to be verified. 

·      Street Cleansing Monitoring: The contract monitoring officer aims for 50 inspections per month at present, to check that roads are being cleansed to standard.  Where they fall below standard, a rectification notice is raised via the management system.  The grading system utilised is nationally recognised, with examples shown in the Members’ Handbook.  Spot checks are also carried out on service requests such as fly-tipping reports to check that clearance has taken place. 

·      Supervisor monitoring: This includes checking on work reported as completed by crews, as well as checking that roads are within the standards set out, and directing crews accordingly if roads fall below standard. 

·      Joint monitoring: Havering’s Monitoring Officer and FCC’s supervisors regular carry out joint inspections together to look at cleansing standards, as well as crew behaviours and safe working practices.  This helps to ensure that both parties are working and monitoring to the same standards. 

·      Complaints monitoring: Carried out by Havering officers to identify and address any recurring issues. 

The contract team also deals with the general running of the contract, and administration of items such as container distribution.  For example, the team manages the siting and replacement of street litter bins, but works with the contractor, the council’s Enforcement team and ward councillors, as well as using littering data to understand hotspot areas before deciding on the locations.  Bins are removed if abused, for example where they have previously been set on fire.   

It was stated that there are three key groups that meet to review the contract: 

·      Contract Partnership Board: To meet quarterly, or less frequently if agreed, and act as a strategic forum for contract improvement and development.  Comprises of senior management from Havering and FCC. 

·      Contract Management Group: Meets monthly, and comprises Havering’s Waste and External Contracts Manager or Head of Service, Assistant Director, FCC’s Regional Manager and Senior Contract Manager.  Discusses monthly performance management report, service improvements, and any escalated issues. 

·      Contract Operations Group: This consists of Havering’s contract monitoring team and FCC’s operational managers.  It focuses on the day-to-day running of the contract, and any key matters arising. 

In response to the Social Value of the contract. It was stated that FCC has various values as part of their commitment to Havering, both in terms of the day-to-day running of the contract, and specific  ...  view the full minutes text for item 76.