To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors TM James and DB Wilcox.  Apologies for absence had also been received from Mr P Sell.

To receive details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

Councillor P Rone substituted for Councillor DB Wilcox.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2013.

The minutes of the last meeting were received.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2013 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

(There will be no discussion of the issue at the time when the matter is raised. Consideration will be given to whether it should form part of the Committee’s work programme when compared with other competing priorities.)

It was reported that Mrs E Morawiecka had submitted two further questions about questions originally asked at the 4 July 2012 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, principally relating to Destination Hereford.  Responses to the questions had been provided by the Head of Transportation and Access and were circulated at the meeting; see the document appended to these minutes.  The Committee was advised that Mrs Morawiecka had suggested that Destination Hereford should feature as part of the work programme.

The Chairman invited suggestions from members of the public in attendance at the meeting.  Mrs Morawiecka made a number of comments, including:

•        at the 18 June 2013 meeting of the Committee, the Monitoring Officer had agreed to provide a report on Hereford Futures, specifically in relation to queries she had raised about possible inaccuracies and inconsistencies in public information in relation to the company;

•        concern was expressed about the period of time that had elapsed since she had first raised the issues and the fact that she had not had a response from the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Executive in recent months;

•        it was claimed that the Committee had been misled about certain information relating to Hereford Futures;

•        the matter should come back to the Committee and to the Audit and Governance Committee; and

•        the issues should be viewed in the wider context of other contracts and joint ventures the Council was involved with which may involve liabilities, such as pensions, even though the Council might not be receiving sets of accounts.

The Chairman said that the matters raised would be queried with the relevant officers.

To note questions received from the public and the items to which they relate.

(Questions are welcomed for consideration at a Scrutiny Committee meeting so long as the question is directly related to an item listed on the agenda.  If you have a question you would like to ask then please submit it no later than two working days before the meeting to the officer named on the cover of this agenda).

No questions had been received in relation to items on the agenda for this meeting.

To outline the current position with regard to the negotiations over the variation to the Integrated Waste Management Contract and the processes that will be followed to enable Cabinet to make a decision on the 4 October 2013.

The Director for Environment, Communities and Corporate introduced the report, with the following comments: it had been anticipated that a detailed report on the options in terms of delivering an Energy from Waste (EfW) facility would have been presented to the Cabinets of Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council during September 2013; this timetable had subsequently slipped, with the Cabinets now due to meet on 4 October 2013; and there might be an opportunity for Committee Members to look at the detailed Cabinet report once published.

The Head of Special Projects provided an overview of the current position, the principal points included:

1.       Cabinet, on 13 December 2012, had agreed to find alternative methods of finance for the EfW plant proposal.

2.       Herefordshire and Worcestershire were in the process of negotiating with Mercia Waste Management (MWM) and the Cabinet report would be brought forward with a number of options.

3.       The councils were in conversation with central government, particularly DEFRA, and clarifications had been sought on a number of issues.

4.       There was more work to be done in response to DEFRA and there was sensitivity analysis being undertaken on the options on behalf of the two partner authorities. Additionally, Herefordshire Council had engaged KPMG to provide independent advice on value for money of the options for Herefordshire alone.

5.       Referring to an example in Wakefield, it was commented that the timescale for the delivery of this project was not unusual.

6.       It was reported that MWM had been granted planning permission for an EfW facility at Hartlebury in 2012.  Following this, MWM had undertaken competitive tendering to secure an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the plant and had identified a preferred contractor.  In parallel, the councils were in negotiation with MWM on the terms of the variation to the Integrated Waste Management Contract.

7.       Going forward, work would be finalised on the options with due diligence undertaken by financial, legal and technical advisors.  The options would be presented to Cabinet with an assessment of the ability to meet the parameters identified in the 13 December 2012 report.

8.       It was intended that the Cabinet report would be available during the week commencing 23 September 2013.  On 4 October 2013, a joint presentation would be made in Worcester to both Cabinets, with the opportunity for Cabinet Members to question the advisors; this session would be open to the public but would not include public participation.  Herefordshire Council’s Cabinet would return to Hereford, with each authority making its own decision independently and concurrently during that afternoon; the KPMG report would inform Herefordshire’s deliberations.

9.       Subject to approval of the variation by the Cabinet, it was anticipated that financial close would be at the end of the calendar year.

The Head of Special Projects advised that work was still being undertaken on the figures associated with the options but he did report that the termination of the contract would result in the loss of PFI credits worth £1.4  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To consider the Committee work programme.

The Chairman noted the need to populate the work programme and suggested the following:

•        A short-term Task and Finish Group on the Cultural Services review, to include museums and libraries.

•        A longer-term Task and Finish Group on the future of Planning Services; it was noted that restructuring of the service was currently being consulted upon.

•        There was work to be finalised on Frameworki and Agresso, with more research to be undertaken on the role of Hoople.

A Committee Member suggested that the Committee consider new organisational priorities.

In response to a question, the Chairman advised that the dedicated Scrutiny Officer role had been retained but Governance Services had made reductions in the numbers of Democratic Services Officers, therefore the frequency of meetings might not be sustainable going forward and the Committee needed to be focused.  It was noted that General Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings would become bi-monthly, alternating with the Health and Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Vice-Chairman reported that a draft scoping statement had been prepared, and would be circulated shortly, for the Task and Finish Group on the Digital Strategy; this would include consideration of technology solutions to offset the impacts of cuts to services and to enable people to access the Council in new ways.  Expressions of interest in serving on the group were sought from Members.

The Vice-Chairman also reported that the Assistant Director Economic, Environment and Cultural Services was preparing a timetable for the next phase of work in relation to the Task and Finish Group on the Community Infrastructure Levy.

A Committee Member suggested that consideration be given to the governance and management of joint ventures and partnership arrangements, particularly given earlier comments about Hereford Futures and recent issues with the Marches LEP.

The Committee also discussed whether work should be undertaken in respect of public conveniences but, on balance, it was concluded that enough had been added to the work programme.

The Chairman reminded Committee Members that a scrutiny training event was to be held on Monday 16 September 2013.