It was noted that at this Annual Meeting, the Joint Committee needed to appoint a Chair and Vice-Chair for the next year;

RESOLVED: That Councillor Stuart Collins be appointed Chair for 2015/16; and Councillor David Cunningham be appointed Vice-Chair for 2015/16

Councillor Judy Saunders then vacated the Chair, and Councillor Stuart Collins took the Chair.

The Joint Committee then passed a motion thanking Councillor Judy Saunders for her work as Chair  for 2014/15.

Apologies for absence were received from:
Councillor Kathy Bee (London Borough of Croydon), and
Councillor Jill Whitehead  (London Borough of Sutton).

An apology for lateness was received from Councillor Richard Hudson (Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames).

Councillor Judy Saunders declared an interest (but not a disclosable pecuniary interest) by reason that she was employed by the London Borough of Croydon but did not deal with waste issues.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

Andrea Keys, Contract Manager, introduced the report and then responded to Members’ queries including regarding contracts held with Kingston.

Andrea Keys also confirmed that an annual report (for the financial year) was compiled on the contract and undertook to share this with Members.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

Michael Mackie, Financial Lead,  introduced the report and then responded to Members’ queries including regarding the HRRC procurement forecast overspend and advising that the actual waste treatment and disposal costs were dealt with directly by each of the individual boroughs as part of their budget monitoring processes and are not normally reported to the Joint Waste Committee.

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report be noted.

Michael Mackie, Financial Lead, introduced the report.  Following the decisions below, the Chair signed the appropriate section of the accounts.

RESOLVED: That (1) the draft 2014/15 accounts for audit be approved;

(2) the draft 2014/15 Annual Governance Statement be approved; and

(3) it be noted that due to changes enacted by the Account and Audit Regulations 2015, the SLWP will no longer be required to submit an annual return from 2015/16 onwards.

Reference was made to the death of Councillor Colin Hall since the previous meeting.

RESOLVED: That Joint Committee records its appreciation of the substantial contribution made by the late Councillor Colin Hall to the South London Waste Partnership over a number of years.

A member of the public (in the public gallery) indicated that she had previously asked a question relating to the transportation of waste but not received a reply.  The Chair asked the member of the public to contact him or the clerk to the meeting with details of her question.

To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following reports on the grounds that they are exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the reports.

RESOLVED: That the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that they are exempt from disclosure by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act (as amended).

Annie Baker, SLWP Strategic Partnership Manager, gave an oral update on the current status of the town planning process for the proposed ERF facility, including the significant progress made since the agenda item had been compiled, and how this related to the Phase B - Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) Disposal Contract. 

There was discussion of the various implications of the update now provided.  Officers gave assurances regarding informing Boroughs of the latest progress and on coordination on public announcements. 

RESOLVED: That the Joint Committee notes the planning progress on the ERF Project.

Officers highlighted that the update reported under Item 9 above would have implications for the Risk Register.

RESOLVED: That the Joint Committee notes the key developments on the Risk Register and the mitigation of these risks.

Officers confirmed that the Royal Borough Kingston had yet to make a decision on this matter.

RESOLVED: That Joint Committee notes the contents of the report.