Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Advisory Board agreed that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the restricted set of minutes within Item 3 ‘Minutes of the last meeting held on 28 January 2020’, the whole of Items 4 ‘Blackpool Airport’, 5 ‘Charges to Companies’, 6 ‘Blackpool Airport Strategy Development Procurement’ and part of Item 7 ‘Blackpool Transport Services’, namely the whole of Appendix 6(b) and 6(c) and part of Appendix 6(a).

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 28 January 2020 as a true and correct record.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

The Advisory Board considered the minutes of the last meeting held on 28 January 2020, noting that there was a public and restricted version.

The Advisory Board agreed that the minutes of the meeting be signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

To provide a summary of performance as at 31 December 2019 and to provide a verbal update on the recent work of the Company.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of this item as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.)

Mr Glynn Wright, Deputy Airport Manager provided an update on the recent work undertaken by the company including a summary of performance for Quarters 1, 2 and 3, 2019/2020.

The Advisory Board discussed the information provided in detail and agreed to note the update.

(Mr Glynn Wright left the meeting following the conclusion of this item).

The purpose of this report is to consider the current position with regard to the council providing services to companies and in particular the associated fees.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of this item as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act).

Mr Antony Lockley, Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Strategy presented a report on Charges to Companies to the Advisory Board.

The Shareholder’s Advisory Board agreed:

1.      To endorse the Council’s intention to streamline the fees and charges for the services it provides and report to the forthcoming Board meetings of the companies and seek their approval.

2.      To endorse the Council’s intention to provide services to companies which may already be provided by outside organisations, especially where the Council believes a minimum level of assurance is required for that service (this may not happen immediately but over a period of time when current contracts are approaching review).

3.      To achieve the above, that the Shareholder Lead Officer and the relevant Heads of Service in the Council work together with Managing Directors and the Company Secretary, in bringing in these changes and in turn where there will be significant impact on budgets, then the Council will support this transition.

Mr Alan Cavill, Director of Regeneration and Communication to provide a verbal update on Blackpool Airport Strategy Development Procurement.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

(Mr Alan Cavill, Director of Communication and Regeneration arrived at the meeting).

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of this item as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act).

Mr Alan Cavill, Director of Communication and Regeneration provided the Advisory Board with an overview of the Blackpool Airport Strategy Development Procurement.

The Advisory Board noted the update.

(Mr Cavill and Councillor Campbell left the meeting following the conclusion of this item).

To provide a summary of performance as at 31 December 2019 and to provide an update on the recent work of the Company.

(This item contains commercially sensitive information which is exempt from publication by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).

(Councillor Paul Galley, Chair of the Blackpool Transport Services Board, Ms Jane Cole, Managing Director, BTS, Mr James Carney, Finance and Commercial Director, BTS and Ms Sally Shaw, Director of People and Stakeholders, BTS arrived at the meeting).

(The press and public were excluded prior to the consideration of part of Appendix 7(a) and the whole of Appendices 7(b) and 7(c) to this item as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act).

Ms Jane Cole, Managing Director, Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) provided an overview of the recent work of the company, highlighting the continued growth of the app and the change to ticket machines, which was ensuring that the number of bus users was recorded correctly leading to the increase in passenger numbers without the corresponding increase to revenue. Councillor Paul Galley, Chair of the BTS Board added that a piece of work was being undertaken to review the bus routes and provide each route with its own marketing plan.

The Advisory Board discussed the financial position of the company in detail and requested that an informal meeting be held between the Shareholder and the company to discuss options further.

(Councillor Galley, Ms Cole, Mr Carney and Ms Shaw left the meeting following conclusion of the item).

To provide a summary of key performance indicators and an update on the recent work of the Company.

(Councillor Adrian Hutton, Chair, Blackpool Waste Services Limited (BWS) and Mr John Hawkin, Managing Director, BWS attended the meeting for this item).

Mr John Hawkin, Managing Director, Blackpool Waste Services Limited (BWS) reported that the Household Waste and Recycling Survey had been completed, which had indicated that satisfaction with household waste collection services had increased from 73.8% in 2017 to 83.6%. He also advised that work was being carried out to reduce waste tonnage, in order to achieve a reduction in the total amount future strategic action was required to apply pressure to producers to use less packaging. In addition, the number of recycling opportunities needed to be increased such as the ability to return white goods to manufacturers for repair or parts recycling.

The Advisory Board was informed that there were no significant variations to the projected financial plan and that BWS had projected a year end position of break even. In regards to the health and safety audit, it was reported that the audit had indicated that controls were adequate and there had been no Priority 1 issues identified and it was also noted that there had been nine vehicle accidents up to January 2020. Of these, one accident was no fault and the remainder were low speed manoeuvring incidents in restricted areas.

Mr Hawkin also reported that the Council had requested that the company take on two additional contracts for wheeled bin and waste container management and the waste paper and cardboard recycling collection service.

In response to questions, it was noted that the number of assisted collections missed was not meeting target. The reason being that crews had varied over the Christmas period and therefore the good relationships between regular crews and residents which ensured crews knew where and how to obtain the household waste had not been maintained. In addition, the in-cab software did not prompt the crews to sign off individual properties as completed, only whole streets, an issue which had since been remedied.

It was also reported that the financial indicator of ‘cost per household of the domestic collection service’ was based on 2018/2019 figures when Veolia was delivering the contract and that the cost of BWS delivering the service would not be available until the new financial year.

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 5 May 2020, commencing at 2.00pm.

The date and time of the next meeting was agreed as Tuesday, 5 May 2020, commencing at 2.00pm.