Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 24th August, 2021 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22nd July, 2021 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 22nd July, 2021 were AGREED as a correct record.

To receive a presentation from Gill Chisnall, Corporate Manager Communications and Ruth Whaymand, Contracts Manager, on the Communications and Education Plan for the new Food Waste Service.

The Portfolio Holder for Operations has been invited to the meeting for this item.

The Committee welcomed Gill Chisnall, Corporate Manager Communications and Ruth Whaymand, Contracts Manager, who were in attendance to give a presentation on the communications and education plan for the new food waste collection service.

The Committee was advised on a number of issues, these included:

Work Streams – it was noted that collection arrangements with the Council’s contractor, SERCO, were being reviewed to incorporate the new service, this had some legal and financial implications, due to round changes and a rebalancing of top heavy rounds to ensure a smoother service to residents. It was advised that two Recycling Support Officers had been recruited, on a one year contract, to support the launch of the new service, both would be carrying out engagement with residents prior to, during and after the launch. Their role would also include monitoring feedback and adapting the communications to address residents’ concerns. IT systems were being updated to allow for a customer self-serve portal to report missed collections/check collection days, the crew would also be able to log problems from hand held devices in real time.

Caddies and Liners – It was advised that the service would be launched in two phases, the first phase would be to individual properties and phase two would be to properties with shared facilities, such as flats. As part of phase one, it was noted that households would be provided with a 23L kerbside caddy, a 5L kitchen caddy and a one-off roll of liners. It was noted that the use of liners wasn’t necessary and these could be substituted with alternatives such as bread bags, newspaper etc. It was advised that the caddies were due to arrive in early September but the liners had been slightly delayed. Once everything was in place the “go live” date would be announced for phase one. The launch of the service to shared facility properties (phase two) was likely to commence in spring 2022.

Engagement/Communications – It was noted that a Leadership Group within the Council had been established to consider the implications of introducing a food waste collection service. The Group had considered opportunities/barriers, especially with harder to reach groups and had spent time learning from the experiences of other councils and industry specialists, WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme). Following the establishment of a Member Working Group, a communications plan had been developed. Initially, social media had been used to raise awareness of the importance of a food waste collection service, following the adoption of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy. More recently, “teaser” leaflets had been distributed to all households and further information, such as a “how to guide” and “tips” leaflets, would be circulated with the delivery of the caddies, in September 2021, to phase one properties. To complement this, social media would continue to be used to raise awareness of the new service and offer tips and advice on how to get the most from the service, this would include a “how to” video. The food waste advisers would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

To consider the Work Plan for the 2021/22 Municipal Year (copy attached).

The Committee NOTED the current work plan.

It was noted that the agenda for the next meeting in October 2021 might include a presentation from Citizens’ Advice and Rushmoor Voluntary Services on their activities and joint work with the Council.

It was suggested that a review of VIVID Housing could be carried out following recent land ownership issues in the North Town area. It was agreed that this would be followed up at the next Progress Group.