Agenda item

6.1

The Director of Business Strategy and Regulation submitted a report on proposed changes to the assisted collection eligibility criteria following the identification of a number of limitations to the existing criteria and a review of services provided by other local authorities.  

6.2

In addition to the report, the Committee received a presentation from Gillian Charters, Head of Waste Management, on the proposed changes to the eligibility criteria.  Also in attendance for this item were Councillor Terry Fox (Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport), Councillor Tony Downing (Cabinet Advisor for Environment and Transport) and Neil Townrow (Waste Management Officer).

6.3

Ms Charters reported on the present assisted collection service provided by the Authority, the present service criteria, the limitations with the current approach, the approach taken by a number of other local authorities, the proposed revisions to the criteria and consultation arrangements.

6.4

Members of the Committee raised questions and the following responses were provided:-

·                In terms of transitions arrangements, those people who met the current criteria, but would not meet the criteria if and when the proposed changes were agreed, would be entitled to assisted collections up until the date of the next scheduled review.

·                The Waste Management Service did not have any statistics in terms of those areas of the City having the highest and lowest demand for the assisted collection service, but this information could be obtained from the Geographical Information System and provided to Members.

·                In terms of the financial implications, for those people registered under the scheme, the Council paid Veolia an increased cost in terms of the collection of their black and blue bins and blue boxes, based on the size of their black bins.  On average, this cost amounted to £10 a year.

·                There was no reference to weather conditions, as part of the eligibility criteria, as it was considered that if people were not physically able, or would struggle to move their bins, weather conditions would not make any difference.  There was also an issue of flexibility in terms of adding this in, and dealing with this issue, as part of the eligibility criteria.  Although, as part of the criteria, the Council offered temporary assisted collections for a set period of time of up to six months, for example, due to illness, pregnancy or recovery from an operation, it was considered that it would be too difficult to instruct Veolia to undertake assisted collections during periods of inclement weather.  Officers were not aware of any other local authorities who adopted this approach.  However, officers would talk to Veolia to discuss the possibility of undertaking assisted collections during periods of inclement weather, to assess the practical arrangements required and to determine if any financial savings could be made.

·                Statistics in terms of how many people would be eligible for assisted collections under the revised criteria were not available at the present time.  However, based on the fact that approximately 7% of people in the City were over 75 and approximately 5% of the City’s population were disabled, and that the Council was presently providing the service to approximately one-third of these two groups of people, it would mean around 4% of people in Sheffield would be in receipt of the service.

·                In those circumstances where people used shared container bins, for both waste and recycling, such as in multi-storey flats, the Council provided the assisted collections automatically, regardless of the occupants’ age or physical condition.

·                It was accepted that not everyone would have the ability, or facilities, to photocopy or scan the documentation required, as proof, in terms of the eligibility criteria, so the Council was looking to arrange a data-share with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and, if this was not possible, officers would make arrangements to cross-check the information with the DWP.

6.5

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report now submitted, together with the information reported as part of the presentation and the responses provided to the questions raised;

(b)       approves the proposed changes to the eligibility criteria regarding the Council’s Assisted Collection Policy, as set out in the report now submitted; and

(c)        requests the Head of Waste Management to look into the implications of the suggestion now made, that inclusion of the Council’s Electoral Register be added to the eligibility criteria in terms of entitlement to assisted collections, including liaising with colleagues in Nottingham, who currently adopt that approach, and ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place.