Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To note the minutes of the previous meeting. the minutes of the meeting held on the 8^th November 2021.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 8 November 2021 were noted. As this was an informal meeting, minutes will be formally agreed at the next meeting.

This meeting is being held remotely on Zoom and will be live streamed to YouTube https://youtu.be/zCgTcM8Wstk

If you would like to ask a question at the meeting about any of the items on the agenda, please complete the following form by 5pm on Wednesday 19^th January 2022: https://forms.office.com/r/qnu5rvRe7q

The Chair noted that the Committee had received public questions on two of the items on the agenda. The questions and answers can be found under Item 5 (Climate and Ecological Emergency Programme Update) and Item 6 (Prototype Containerisation and Food Waste Collection Service).

This briefing paper provides an update on the key initiatives currently underway to deliver on Hammersmith & Fulham’s (H&F) Climate and Ecology Strategy, approved by Cabinet in September 2021, and co-produced with a resident-led commission.

Hinesh Mehta (Strategic Lead - Climate and Ecological Emergency), gave a presentation on the climate programme currently being delivered in the Council and provided a summary of the following key points:

-       Work by the resident-led Climate and Ecological Emergency Commission (CEEC) was key in developing the Council’s climate and ecology strategy.

-       Their report recommended that the Council build knowledge around eight key themes, which had been reflected in the Council’s strategy.

-       A climate strategy implementation group was in place, to review plans and progress, for each of the eight themes.

-       The Council was developing five climate action groups to help deliver the strategy and ensure that the Council was ‘doing things with residents, not to them’.

-       Local emissions had fallen and were down 41% since 2005. Majority of the reduction was from the electricity grid.

-       The Council’s climate and ecology strategy was approved by Cabinet in September 2021 and was built on an independent audit of local carbon emissions as well as the recommendations from the CEEC and a public consultation.

-       An overview was provided on the initiatives underway in each of the eight workstreams of the climate and ecology strategy.

The Chair explained that the Committee had received some written questions from members of the public in advance of the meeting and speakers would also be invited to ask a question or make a comment to address the main areas of concerns as follows:

Q1. A resident asked if feedback could be provided on why the Council performed so poorly on the Healthy Streets initiative compared to similar inner London boroughs. What is the Council’s plans to improve this?

In response Hinesh Mehta (Strategic Lead - Climate and Ecological Emergency), explained that the Council had an ambition to enable more active travel journeys in the borough. Recent progress included construction of the King Street safer cycle pathway and design progress on the Wood Lane cycleway project.

The Council had also expanded –and made permanent–the first traffic, congestion, and pollution reduction scheme in South Fulham. This scheme had reduced rat running traffic significantly and the neighbourhood was now much more pleasant for walking and cycling. The Council would be engaging with the residents to extend the scheme to the west side of Wandsworth Bridge Road and introduce a 20-mph speed limit on Wandsworth Bridge Road along with other improvement measures. The borough had also introduced a 20-mph speed limit in areas that had received general support.

Better Brackenbury was another example where the Council was coproducing public realm improvements to make the area healthier for all. The Council would continue enhancing the public realm and reducing the negative impacts of traffic for its residents, and this work would further improve the Healthy Streets scores.

Q2: I welcome the update on how the Council is responding to the climate and ecological emergency and I am pleased that you continue to make reference to the CEEC’s report that was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The report provides an update on the Council’s prototype wheeled bin and food waste collection service in the borough and shows the positive impact that it has had on recycling levels. 

Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) gave a brief presentation on the waste and recycling container project and provided a summary of the following key points:

-       The current boroughwide service was sack based for refuse and recycling with no separate food waste collection.

-       The prototype collection service for food waste and wheeled bin household waste and recycling began on 9 November 2020.

-       4,600 properties across six wards were currently operating the pilot.

-       This provided an improved service for residents by tackling limited refuse capacity and increasing recycling rates.

-       A summary was provided on the resident communication plan, including a performance update in the prototype area.

The Chair explained that the Committee had received some written questions from members of the public on the progress of the food waste collection pilot in advance of the meeting. Speakers would also be invited to ask a question or make a comment to address the main areas of concerns as follows:

Q1: Residents asked if there was a Council plan to extend the food waste collection (beyond the 6000 households) pilot scheme across the borough? The majority of residents within the borough live in flats, estates, and multi-occupation premises. What steps are being taken to explore schemes that can extend food waste collection for these residents?

Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) confirmed that the Council continued to monitor the impact of the prototype scheme. Given the seasonality of waste, officers needed to ensure they had over a years’ worth of learning from the prototype scheme including feedback from flats and estates across the borough.

The Council’s vision of getting the views of residents and elected members was important to the pilot. Co-production with residents would form part of any recommendations put forward for any future extension of the scheme, as well as considerations relating to the specification for the new waste management contract from 2023 onwards. Officers would seek residents’ views of the prototype service through survey work in June and July 2022.

The Council was also working to introduce food waste recycling in education establishments within the prototype area.

Officers were following the Mayor of London Environment strategy which aimed by 2026 for no biodegradable waste to be sent to landfill. This was being achieved by the Council, and by 2030, the target of 65% of London’s municipal waste would be recycled. There were powers in the new Environment Bill 2021 to ensure all Councils operated weekly separate food waste collections, preventing food waste from going to landfill or being incinerated. Officers were awaiting guidance on the Environment Bill implementation.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler explained that she had received some concerns raised by residents in relation to the containers not being returned to the relevant properties. She enquired how this would be resolved with the operatives. In response Richard Shwe (Assistant Director of Environment Operations) noted that this was due to lack of supervision and training provided to agency staff. Officers were working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

This report sets out the budget proposals for the services covered by this Policy and Accountability Committee (PAC). An update is also provided on any proposed changes in fees and charges in the budget.

Sharon Lea (Strategic Director of Environment) and Kellie Gooch (Head of Finance - Environment) gave a presentation on the Environment revenue budget 2022/23, highlighting the following key points:

-       The department managed an extensive range of front-line services for residents and businesses supporting Council values and priorities.

-       An overview was provided on the major challenges faced by the department this year.

-       These included maintaining day to day operations whilst managing Covid-19 impacts on service, continuing to improve and reduce the cost of existing and new contracts, such as waste and grounds maintenance.

-       In addition to this the department also made improvements to various services.

-       The department had a strong financial performance and delivered an underspend in 2020/21.

-       For 2021/22 the department was working hard to balance the year-end outturn in line with budget. However, Covid-19 impacts may affect this.

-       The budget for 2022/23 was summarised at directorate level.

-       The key budget investments and future strategic issues were outlined in detail.

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler requested that a breakdown of the full parking budget and surplus be provided to the Committee.

Action: Gary Hannaway - Head of Finance (Parking)

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler asked for further clarification to be provided on the outturn for 2020/21 which included a £1.3m underspend compared to the budget (excluding Parking Services). In response Kellie Gooch (Head of Finance - Environment) explained that this was in part due to savings that had been secured as part of the waste contract extension with Serco, which were contributed towards reserves for climate change. Sharon Lea (Strategic Director of Environment) also provided an overview of the challenges faced within waste collection services as a result of Covid-19 impacting on the contractor’s performance, with shortage of drivers and operatives, including the Council’s approach on resolving these concerns. 

Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler requested that full details of the £1.3m underspend be circulated to the Committee.

Action: Kellie Gooch

Councillor Iain Cassidy asked for further clarification to be provided on the Council’s long-term approach to parking charges as people had begun to shift in significant numbers to electric vehicles. He also enquired if Local Authorities had any powers to alter their parking charges based on the size of the vehicle. In response, Sharon Lea (Strategic Director of Environment) noted that the Council’s parking charges were based around its traffic management policies. Resident and visitor parking permits were also available to park in the borough. Currently, the Council’s main priority was to focus on changing behaviour towards parking and encourage less car use in the borough. Bram Kainth (Chief Officer - Public Realm) explained that most Local Authorities would focus on managing their parking spaces based on the type of vehicle in terms of emissions rather than the size. He was not currently aware of any Local Authorities charging for parking based on their size.

Councillor Ann Rosenberg commented that for certain people travelling by public transport was not an option. She asked if it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.