Waste Management Update
Strategic Waste Board
The first meeting of the new Strategic Waste Board which was chaired by the Minister, was held on the 20th February in Clarence Court. NILGA arranged a short pre-meeting at 9am to enable local government to reach consensus on a number of issues prior to the main meeting. For a number of unavoidable reasons, it was not possible to set up a lengthier pre-meeting for local government members and officers. To ensure members were informed on the issues to be discussed, they were posted a short briefing paper on current relevant local government policy positions and a suggested approach, a week prior to the meeting.
Initial Outcomes
This initial Board meeting was used to discuss terms of reference; the necessary administrative arrangements for the board and its sub-groups; and to receive updates on the work ongoing since the production of the Waste Infrastructure Taskforce report.
Terms of reference
The terms of reference as drafted, largely reflected what local government asked for in the timely set up of a Strategic Waste Board.
The Minister was thanked for encouraging his department to progress the board so quickly, and was informed regarding a number of concerns. The local government members stated our willingness to work with the Department to alleviate these concerns, namely:
1 The Strategic Waste Board, whilst intended to act as a high level group driving progress on Strategy targets, is currently designed as a non-statutory body.
Local government members pressed the Minister to ensure that the status of the Board will be a subject for discussion as policy development on the local government reform agenda progresses. The Minister was encouraged to prioritise this issue,
2. The Board as currently constituted, may find it difficult to drive progress on Strategy targets, as it exist in an advisory capacity only, with no sanctions.
The Local Government members also pressed the Minister to consider the potential ability of the Board to issue sanctions for implementation delays, within the forthcoming waste legislation, and to give thought as to how, in the absence of sanctions, to ensure active participation and compliance from members.
Rules of Proceedings and Operation
Members requested that given the level of work required, the Board should meet on a quarterly basis, with the meetings dates set within a timetable, and that papers should be issued to members at least one week prior to the meeting
Provision of a joint secretariat 00resource issues
NILGA requested that the current level of funding to NILGA of 拢15K per year from the DoE for waste work, be retained under the new arrangements.. The Minister felt that a DOE/NILGA joint secretariat was vital to the success of the Board and that there was potential for a better resource to be provided for the local government waste work. He decided that this funding should be increased to 拢30K per year to enable an officer to be provided. Further to the NILGA Executive meeting of 16th March which will decide whether or not to further the employment of an officer, NILGA will work with the waste management groups to decide on a way forward for this post, which would be likely to be on the basis of an initial 18 month appointment, within the context of the RPA.
Remuneration of Members
NILGA specifically requested that elected members should be remunerated for their attendance at Board meetings. The Minister agreed that members should be paid 拢225 per meeting with 40p per mile travel allowance. A 50% add-on will be paid to the vice chair and to elected members on subgroups.
Independent Members
Local government members informed the Minister that the principle of having independent members on the board is not in contention, so long as the balance between central and local government representation is retained, and the number of independents is not excessively large.
There was some debate as to whether independent members should represent specific waste sectors or should be chosen from e.g. academia. It was agreed that the secretariat should consider this issue further and report back to the next meeting. Local Government members stressed the importance of holding other waste producing sectors to account for implementation of the strategy.
It was also agreed that the potential for Cllr W Fulton00 suggestion of a User Focus Group should be examined for the next meeting.
Strategy Delivery Programme
Members agreed that the suggested appointment of a programme manager by DOE is to be welcomed, with the appointment of a consultant on a short-term basis giving way to DOE staff taking this over. The recognition by the department that additional ongoing resources are required for this work was also welcomed, and the Department was encouraged to progress this work as a matter of priority. Local government members highlighted the need for this Programme Manager to have a challenge function, to enable that person to hold Board members to account for any failure to implement the Strategy. It was also agreed that a Monitoring and Evaluation subgroup would be necessary, and that the Learning and Communications forum work would be vitally important.
PDSU
Local government is supportive of the Programme Delivery Support Unit and its work, but expressed concern regarding the lack of planning expertise within the dept. Noel Scott is moving from Planning Service to the PDSU, and the hope was expressed that this will not cause further delays within Planning Service.
AOB
NILGA reported on the fringe meeting held at the conference on variable waste charging
The Minister confirmed that new illegal dumping powers had been passed by Parliament
Local Government once again lobbied the Minister for short term small scale funding for waste management work in advance of large infrastructure funding.
A communications strategy for waste management is also underway.
