Agenda and draft minutes

Prayers were led by the Chief Executive.

Apologies were received from Councillors Borg-Neal, N Daas and I Jeffrey.

There was no public participation.

There were no declarations on interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 29 February 2024.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 29 February 2024 were proposed by Councillor Flood who advised of an alteration to the minutes to correct a spelling error in the motion and to show that Councillor Neal was not present, and Councillor Hasselmann was present for both recorded votes. The meeting’s consent was signalled without discussion.

Clarity would be sought on the attendance time of Councillor Z Brooks and updated if necessary.

The minutes were seconded by Councillor Adams-King.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 29 February 2024 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Worshipful The Mayor of Test Valley reflected on the service given to the Council and communities of Test Valley by former councillor Sandra Hawke who had sadly died.

The Mayor thanked Mr Lynn and the Sofa Club who had arranged for a Mayor’s charity event held on Saturday 13 April and had been an enjoyable evening as well as raising funds for the mayoral charities.

The Mayor looked forward to welcoming those councillors who were attending his mayoral dinner this coming Saturday 20 April to raise money for the mayoral charities.

To receive and, where necessary, adopt reports of Committees.

Minutes of meetings

The minutes of meetings were proposed by Councillor P North and seconded by Councillor Flood.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the following Committees and Cabinet meetings be received:

To adopt recommendations from the following:

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor P North and seconded by Councillor Flood.

Audit Committee – 18 March 2024

Annual Governance Statement 2023/24

Resolved:

That the Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 be approved and that the Leader and Chief Executive be authorised to sign it on behalf of the Council.

Cabinet – 3 April 2024

Allocation of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Funds – Community Projects Reserve

Resolved:

1.  That £467,910 be allocated to the following projects, as set out in section 3 of the report:

·  Picket Piece Village Hall Extension - £245,000

·  Ampfield Recreation Ground Cricket Training Facilities – £46,639

·  Broughton Sports Pavilion Additional Funding – £100,000

·  Wellow Men’s Shed – £76,271

2.  That the projects identified in recommendation 1, be added to the Council’s Capital Programme, to be funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy Community Projects Reserve.

Councillor Gidley asked a question in relation to the minutes of the Council meeting held on 29 February 2024, minute number 474 – Broadcasting Committee meetings. Councillor Gidley asked the Leader when the audio broadcasting of democratic meetings would commence?

The Leader responded to confirm that it was the intention to begin broadcasting meetings from the Annual Council meeting in May 2024.

Councillor Celia Dowden asked a question in relation to the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 6 March 2024, minute number 485 – Cost of Living. Councillor Celia Dowden noted that the minutes referred to the lessons learnt by the Council and its partners however did not set out what those lessons learnt were. Councillor Celia Dowden asked for confirmation of what the lessons learnt from the work undertaken to support residents with the increased cost of living were.

The Leader responded to confirm that details of the lessons learnt would be sent to all councillors outside of the meeting.

Councillor Gidley asked Recycling and Environmental Services Portfolio Holder the following question on behalf of Councillor Daas:

‘This Council has committed to deliver food waste recycling by 31^st December 2024. If the County Council is not ready to process food waste in County by 2024, will this Council investigate the schemes that Eastleigh and Portsmouth Council use by processing food waste out of county?’

Councillor Drew responded to confirm that position had not changed since he had responded to a question of similar nature last November. The Council was committed to the delivery of waste service changes as required by the Environment Act.

Last autumn, the Council was planning for service changes when the Government announced, ‘Simpler Recycling’. This was an unexpected change in policy direction at a national level and meant that the new county-wide twin stream system was no longer an absolute requirement. A Government consultation followed which the Council responded to however outcomes from this were still awaited.

As a result of ‘Simpler Recycling’ it is likely the Council will introduce a fully commingled waste collection system. This means all recyclable materials, including glass, will be contained within one bin, making recycling much easier for residents.

At the same time as announcing the change in policy direction, the Government pushed back the date for introducing weekly food waste collections to April 2026. Although confirmation of capital funding for purchasing vehicles and food waste caddies has been received, this is yet to be the case for ongoing funding for these collections. The introduction of weekly food waste collections would result in a significant ongoing annual cost however, the Government had yet to confirm they would fund this from the 1 April 2026.

Councillor Drew assured Council that the authority was keen to bring in changes at the appropriate time having given due consideration to operational and affordability matters.

Councillor Gidley asked a supplementary question enquiring as to whether ‘Simpler Recycling’ was just an excuse not to bring in the changes to collection of food waste. Councillor Gidley advised that 115 other local authorities already undertook this kind of collection and that the only reason the Council was not proceeding was due to the potential to lose funding from Government. Councillor Gidley asked whether the Council should proceed to move forward with the collection of food waste now given its benefits for residents and the environment.

Councillor Drew responded that it would cost in the region of £800,000 a year to undertake food waste collection so it was not an insignificant cost. He advised that without understanding the outcomes from the Government consultation or the full potential cost to the authority it would not be wise to proceed at this time. As soon as further details were known the Council would look to move forward with changes to waste and recycling collection services.

Councillor Gwynne asked Housing and Environmental Health Services Portfolio Holder the following question:

‘At last month’s briefing on the Corporate Action Plan, Councillor Phil North  ...  view the full minutes text for item 553.

There were no motions to consider.