Agenda item

Kevin O’ Leary, Corporate Director, Environment and Regeneration presented the Quarter 1 Performance Report which set out the corporate performance indicator suite for 2016-17, together with a progress update for those indicators related to Environment and Transport over the first quarter of 2016-17.

In the presentation and discussion the following points were made:

·         The percentage of household waste recycled and composted had dropped in 2015/16 along with that of all the North London Waste Authority boroughs. This was mainly due to tighter industry-wide regulatory controls of contamination levels. The rate had now recovered by 2 percentage points and it was hoped this could be maintained.

·         Officers were satisfied with the figures for dealing promptly with planning applications, promoting and increasing the use of libraries and leisure centres and tackling fuel poverty.

·         Ideally the recycling team would collect recycling first and if there was contaminated waste, they should leave this and mark up the bin to advise the residual waste collectors who would follow on behind and collect. Due to the reliability of the ageing fleet, this did not always happen.

·         The number of missed collections was just on target in Quarter 1. However it had worsened in Quarter 2. The Village Principle had taken longer than expected and it was anticipated implementation would take place in February 2017.

·         Missed collections were due to ongoing vehicle availability and reliability issues of an ageing fleet.

·         The growth in dealing with trade waste would deliver a saving but not as fast as anticipated.

·         Under the advertising concession contract, the council had applied for 90 sites and only received permission for 19 sites. This would therefore not result in the anticipated income.

·         Ways to increase income from parks was being looked into. Planning and licensing could present challenges.

·         A new fleet of waste collection vehicles would enable waste collection services to be regularised.

·         Residents were encouraged to recycle. They should be reminded when changes were made to the collection service.

·         Islington’s garden waste collection rate was one of the best in London.

·         The cost of waste disposal would increase in the future so it was important to improve recycling rates.

·         Paladin bins would be replaced with chamberlain bins. Palladin bins were no longer being made and there were difficulties moving some of the bins as they had wheel problems. The Environment and Regeneration directorate was working with Housing officers to roll out the bin changes. The new ones would be located in the same place as the existing ones and the bin stores had been measured to ensure they would fit so there should be no impact on residents. Different vehicles were required to pick up the chamberlain bins.

·         Members raised concern at targets not being met and were concerned that optimistic budget forecasts were being set. Officers stated that savings had been made and there were risks and income pressures in the department which were different to that of other departments. A note would be provided to the committee which would provide more of an explanation of the figures.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.