Agenda item

To receive questions from Councillors in accordance with the requirements of Standing Order 23.4(a).

(1)          From Councillor Perry to Councillor Bains

Considering the liquidation of Carillion, and that Capita’s share price is now one fifth of what it was two years ago, and with it halving in the last month, could the portfolio holder please advise if the HBC outsourcing contract with Capita:

1. includes a no-novation clause
2. if there is not a no-novation clause, what contractual agreements are there in the event of Capita going into administration or liquidation.

Response:

The Contract includes a clause which states that ‘generally’ Capita cannot assign any of its rights, obligations, liabilities without the prior written consent of the Councils.

(2)          From Councillor Perry to Councillor Briggs

Now that China has ceased taking plastic recycling material, could the portfolio holder please advise where Havant Borough’s recycled plastic material goes through to its end disposition.

Response:

For a few years now, we have ensured all our plastic recycling remains in the UK or Europe for reprocessing. The two Hampshire Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) only accept plastic bottles from Hampshire residents as part of the accepted Dry Mixed Recyclables input specification.

From the two Hampshire MRFs we produce a mixed plastic bottle product that is sent to Veolia's Plastic Recovery Facility (PRF) in Rainham for further processing. Here the plastic bottles are sorted  into their constituent forms and polymer types eg. HDPE, PET etc. using specialist camera technologies. The Veolia Hampshire plastic bottles are then sent for final reprocessing back into high quality plastic pellets.

We’re also actively moving up the plastics recycling supply chain and earlier this year officially opened our Dagenham Plastics Facility enabling us to keep plastic recycling in the UK that may take Hampshire milk bottles  (HDPE) in the future.

(3)          From Councillor Davis to Councillor Briggs

Could the portfolio holder please clarify two points on the Analysis of Reserve Balances 18/19 to 22/23 on page 29.

1. Does the portfolio holder believe that reducing reserves from £14.0 million to £5.8 million of the five-year budget period is prudent accounting and budgeting?

2. Reserve balances are credit balances in the ledger so that they may be released into the I&E as a credit.  Could the £5,094,000 debit balance, and particularly the sign be explained?

Response:

Yes - the reserves statement currently assumes that all capital bids will be approved when the business cases come forward next year and that they will be fully funded from our own reserves.  However,  some of the capital bids will be part funded from grants but as these have not yet been confirmed and are still subject to the full business case being brought forward we take a prudent approach to reporting the impact on our reserves.

The 18/19 opening balance on the Usable Capital Receipts Reserve is estimate at £1.632m currently.  The value of approved, unapproved and new bids for capital projects over the period of the MTFS  is estimated to be £6.726m, only £1.632m is currently available from this fund to pay for the proposed capital programme therefore leaving an estimated unfunded balance of £5.094m.  As previously stated new projects are subject to a full business case being brought forward for approval and some are awaiting confirmation of grant funding before progressing.  We also account prudently for income and do not recognise within our reserves statement capital income until it is realised. As an example the largest capital project within the MTFS is for Langstone Flood and Coastal Erosion project estimated costs are £3.9m with £1.3m currently expected to be funded from grants.

(4)          From Councillor Davis to Councillor Briggs

Given the reported incidences of fly-tipping in the national press -

Q1. Could you report how many incidences of fly tipping this council/NORSE has had to deal with this year 2017-18 and how much has it cost to deal with it?

Q2. Do you think a fine of £200 is a sufficient deterrence to fly-tippers, when dropping one piece of litter like a sweet paper in the street can result in a fine of £80?

Response:

Fly tipping data is held by calendar year; the number of fly tips between Jan and Dec 2017 was 907. The majority of fly tips in Havant borough are small domestic tips as opposed to large commercial tips. Norse do not separate out the costs of responding to fly tips as this forms part of the daily operations of the service.

Hampshire County Council is responsible for the Household Waste Recycling Centres and consequently set the charges for waste disposal. HCC introduced the new charges were introduced to generate income to offset the operational costs and to minimise the need to shut some of these sites. The data below demonstrates that there has not been an increase in fly tips in the borough: Jan – Dec 2017 - 907 Jan – Dec 2016 – 1124 Jan – Dec 2015 – 1266.

(5)          From Councillor Davis to Councillor Pike

Q1. Can you tell the Council what has happened to the money that was awarded to Havant Borough Council for the Feasibility study to regenerate the Leigh Park Centre?

Q2. Can you bring the Council up to date with what has been done so far and what else needs to be done?

Response:

A1. Of the £340,000 that was awarded in the Estate Regeneration Fund £5000 has been spent on a consultant to produce a scoping and governance report to agree the terms of reference for the project board and gain formal agreement from the landowning partners to progress with the feasibility for a Community Hub building. Therefor there remains £335,000 available to take the work forward

A2. This is the Council’s only externally funded regeneration project and it is critical that the money is invested in understanding what could be viable in central Leigh park that would rationalise the various community facilities in the area, provide new housing to change the market and engage with partners and importantly the local community. Since the award the Head of Planning has been working with the project board organisations and the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to learn about from similar schemes in Cheltenham and the Hub in Somerstown Portsmouth. key learning points have been that regeneration projects are complex, take considerable time, need significant resources from all partners and community leadership.  The draft Local Plan has identified the Leigh park centre area as a Key Development site. The identification of the project in Local Plan is important for establishing the opportunity to the development industry, the Project board partners and the local community. The latest position is that Hampshire County architects are being commissioned to produce initial viability tested block design options that can then be used to engage with the community in April/May and continue the consultation process.

(6)          From Councillor Davis to Councillor Turner

May I offer my appreciation to Councillor Turner for organising and setting this Lottery up for Havant. I believe it was well received by those who attended the launch and generated much enthusiasm.

Q1. Could you tell the Council what is the monetary benefit to Havant Council, seeing as the Council is facilitating it and the company " Gatherwell " is receiving 20% of all ticket sales?

Q2. Why are the numbers not drawn in public for all to see, rather than using an existing lottery numbers already drawn and announced "Somewhere in the world"?

Q3. Will " Gatherwell " be supplying a yearly Financial Statement?

Response:

The aim of the Havant Lottery was never intended as an income generation tool for the Council but more about how the Council could support voluntary sector organisations.  The council is witnessing many locally based charities and groups struggling to find funding, especially in the current financial climate.

Gatherwell are receiving 20% of ticket sales to cover their running costs plus they pay the VAT.  50% of all ticket sales go towards good causes which is far higher than national lotteries including Lotto, Health & Postcode lotteries plus 10% goes into a small grants pot.

This is the safest, tried and tested method and cannot be open to tampering as our ticket sales cut off point is prior to the Australian Lottery draw.  It was important that the method of drawing numbers was a completely transparent one and this is also the most costs effective way of doing it and has already been tried and tested by other local authorities including Portsmouth, Hart, Gloucester, Melton, Corby, Torbay and West Somerset. 

Yes of course!  Gatherwell will be providing regular updates and all of the financial information required.  Both the Lotteries Council and the Gambling Commission have rigorous procedures to adhere to.