Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Doolan.

There were no declarations of substitute members.

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

*(a)     Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain.

(b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Councillor Webbe informed the meeting that the minutes incorrectly described her portfolio as Economic Development rather than Executive Member for Environment.

Also Councillor Webbe advised the meeting that she presented the Q1 Performance Report and not the Corporate Director, Environment and Regeneration as noted in the Minutes.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings subject to the changes noted above and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

There were no public questions.

Councillor Champion advised that as it was late she would email her report to Members of the Committee.

Councillor Shaikh gave a presentation on the work of the Economic Development Directorate. A copy of the presentation is interleaved with the agenda.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Councillor Shaikh informed Members that the Council recognises the need for Islington residents to share in economic growth. It is offering coaching and mentoring service to the long term employed residents who have multiple and complex needs or are in receipt of in work benefits. Councillor Shaikh informed Members that during the period April 2016 to March 2017 1,142 residents had been supported into work and that residents are now being directly referred to the most suitable service provider in order to avoid duplication.

·         The meeting was advised that the Council will continue to work to improve the learning and skills of Islington residents so that they are able to take full advantage of available employment opportunities. The Council’s Adult & Community Learning service engages in particular with those furthest from the labour market. The focus has been on building up skills for employment to get people into work and the Council has received £1.1 million external funding from Education & Skills funding Agency to support this objective.

·         The Council. through its local plan. promotes economic growth by protecting existing commercial uses across the borough, particularly in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) and promoting new commercial uses by ensuring that it secures a proportion of new space in certain areas as affordable workspace.

·         In response to a question on the possibility of the Council protecting small micro shops behind a parade of shops, the Service Director Planning & Development informed Members that despite the efforts of the Council in the last few years, using tools such as Article 4 directions to protect valuable space, the Council has limits because of the government’s policy of permitted development rights.

·         Members were advised that with over 90% of local firms being SMEs, the Council, through its planning policies, has tried to secure affordable workspace for micro and small businesses. Members were informed that the Council had lobbied the DCLG regarding concerns about the business rates system but to no avail, however the Council would be carrying out a media campaign to increase awareness about the unfairness of this issue. In addition Members were informed that a petition regarding this issue has generated over 15,000 signatures.

·         The Council continues to make a positive difference to the local economy through its role as an economic agent in a number of ways. Presently Islington is the highest direct recruiter of apprentices to its own workforce among London Councils. In awarding substantial contracts, the issue of recruiting is taken into consideration. 

·         A suggestion that the issue of corporate responsibility arising from the work undertaken by Islington Employment Commission be given more prominence in the six objectives stated in the draft Economic Development Strategy was noted. Councillor Shaikh advised that Islington iWork has built relationships with employers across a range of sectors based on a programme of support to encourage  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155.

Councillor Shaikh, Executive Member, Economic Development presented the Q1 Performance Report which set out the corporate performance indicator suite for 2016-17, together with a progress update for those indicators related to Employment and Skills

The following points were made :

·         Councillor Shaikh advised the meeting that although employment figures were relatively similar to the same period last year, target for first Quarter in 2018 would not be met due to the way data is being captured. Members were advised that iWork, the Council’s borough wide employment service only accounts for one third of the data whilst the remaining two thirds was collated by the monitoring of commissioned services, returns relating to school leavers and reporting from council contractors and suppliers.

·         The meeting was informed that work was currently underway to improve data capture regarding parental status as previous reporting did not include the raised participationage and the support offered to families with children aged 16-18. The Director, Employment, Skills and Culture advised that further initiatives were being planned by Childrens’ Services to target parents of older children.

·         In response to a question on why the Council was not meeting its target of ten apprentices, Members were advised the Service is trying to align recruitment with the school year so as to meet our target in the next quarter.  Members were informed that in comparison to our neighbouring authorities, the Council was better in employing apprentices. Also importantly, the Council through its procurement processes and tenders, promotes the take-up of apprentices.

·         In response to a question on whether there was any data regarding European residents, Councillor Shaikh indicated that although there was no data available the Council would be interested in considering this issue later in the year.

·         Members were informed that Officers would be providing more detailed information regarding employment for consideration at a future meeting.

Ander Zabala, the Recycling Manager of Hackney Council gave a presentation on recycling in Hackney borough. A copy of the presentation is interleaved with the agenda.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Hackney Council provides a comprehensive service borough wide for both street level properties and estates. In 2013, the Council introduced green sacks to low rise properties.  There was a recognition that green boxes would not be suitable for over 14,000 properties without frontages.

·         The Recycling Manager advised the participation rate of green sacks across street level properties was an average of 84%, whereas participation rate for food waste was 34%.  He stated that it was noticeable that participation rates was low in deprived estates, which produce high levels of waste but recycle the least.

·         In response to a question about the vehicles collecting waste or recycled materials, the Manager informed the Committee that the decision to move from source separated collection to a commingle collection (green sack) allowed environmental waste operations to use older or used waste vehicles for recycling. These waste vehicles have one compartment. This has resulted in the extension on the life of the waste vehicles, as the older ones can be for recycling which is lighter than waste. The Recycling Manager acknowledged that the use of green sacks rather than green boxes had resulted in faster collections by the crew and a reduction in traffic congestion.

·         The Recycling Manager advised that Hackney Council employed the services of an external consultant to assist in developing five possible waste restriction collection, modelling scenarios with the aim of increasing the recycling rate, the operational resource impact and carbon impact.

·         Projects were undertaken to consider the participation rate, waste composition and restriction modelling. The analysis of data obtained from 300 households indicated that food tonnage remains the largest component by weight in the waste stream; the weight of recycling material had decreased since 2008 and that contamination was not an issue in dry and food streams on street level.

·         In light of the low recycling rate in estates or high rises which account for over 50 % of properties in the borough a corporate programme was set up in 2014/15 to improve low performance levels on estates. The Recycling Manager informed Members that the Estates Recycling Programme involved a range of interventions, from phase 1 to phase 3. Phase 2 being closing chutes and building new bin stores.  

·         In response to a question on the sustainability of recycling rates and participation on the Estates, the Recycling Manager advised that the outcomes from the pilots on the three estates involving 1000 residents would be reported in the spring of 2018. 

·         Members were advised that on the three estates where the trials are ongoing and the chutes have been removed, a decision was taken that both waste and recycling bins would be sited next to one another in other to change the behaviour of the residents. The Manager acknowledged that since the trial commenced it was noticeable  ...  view the full minutes text for item 157.

Barbara Herridge, External Relations Manager and Dimitra Rappou Waste Prevention Manager of the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) both gave a presentation on the NLWA activities especially regarding recycling targets and outreach programmes across the North London boroughs.

A copy of the presentation is interleaved with the agenda.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·       The North London Joint Waste Strategy agreed by the seven north London boroughs provides a statutory framework for municipal waste management in North London for the period 2004-2020.  It contains targets for reducing, reusing and recovering a proportion of the municipal waste generated in the North London Waste Authority and setting targets for reducing the waste sent for disposal to the landfill.

·       The Strategy focusses on preventing and reducing waste, followed by encouraging items to be re-used and then recycled. Members were advised that following these above priorities, NLWA focusses on waste recovery and its subsequent disposal by burning in incinerators to generate heat. NLWA’s least desirable option was to send waste to landfills due to its environmental impact.

·        The Strategy sets a recycling target of 50% by 2020, however the performance rate ranges between 25% to 37 % across the seven boroughs with Islington’s rate stuck at 30.6%.

·        Barbara Herridge informed the meeting that NLWA monitors progress across targets, shares best practices, undertakes research into motivations and behaviours, is involved in communication campaigns, tackles contamination and undertakes outreach work in the community.

·       NLWA has embarked on an awareness campaign directed at young North Londoners who are a transient population, likely to live in flats where participation rate is presently low. The campaign is using simple messages such as ‘one material at a time’, ‘saving stuff for the future’, using social media, Sky TV, digital and online services. The message has been positively received by the younger population.

·        NLWA in conjunction with borough officers review useful advice issued by WRAP about what can and cannot be recycled so that advice is standardised across the boroughs.  NLWA also reviews borough literature and websites to ensure that information provided is clear and not confusing.

·        With regard to the issue of contamination, the External Relations Manager advised that the NLWA had just commenced work on this issue  and are researching what other authorities are doing, what is the disposal cost of contamination and are working on a communications on a pan-North London basis.

·       Members were advised that the Waste Prevention Plan involves outreach work in the community on waste prevention and recycling.  It is prepared biennially and revised annually. The Plan identifies a number of priority material waste streams such as food waste, furniture /bulk waste and textiles and seeks to set out a series of specific actions in relation to those. The focus has been on action-oriented activities, providing information and helping to promote initiatives which NLWA has recognises as effective.

·        With regards to food waste prevention, Dimitra Rappou, the Waste Prevention Manager highlighted a number of themed events such as ‘the Waste Less, Lunch Free’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be updated prior to the next meeting.