The motion was moved by Councillor Daniel Holden and seconded by Councillor Charlie Chirico.

The Labour amendment as set out in agenda item 15 was moved by Councillor Ross Garrod and seconded by Councillor Nick Draper.

Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes and Councillor John Sargeant spoke on the item.

The Labour amendment was put to a vote and was carried.  Voting was as follows:  Votes in favour: 35, votes against: 23, abstentions: 1.

The substantive motion (as amended) was then put to a vote and was carried.  Voting was as follows: Votes in favour: 35, votes against: 0, abstentions: 24.

RESOLVED:

Whilst acknowledging the need to make savings in light of significant cuts to council funding by central government, this Council recognises the concerns expressed by some community groups and staff representatives who spoke at the Overview and Scrutiny Commission call in meeting on 2 August 2016 and the concerns expressed by many residents about the changes proposed to Merton’s waste collection service and the maintenance of local parks and green spaces, whilst also recognising that many residents will welcome wheeled bins as a solution to the problem of split black sacks creating litter and debris on our pavements.

Council thanks both the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny Panel, who undertook pre-decision scrutiny of the proposed joint South West London contracts for waste services and greenspaces management, and the Overview and Scrutiny Commission who heard the call-in and, whilst making some very helpful suggestions, agreed that Cabinet could proceed to the next stage in progressing contracts estimated to save £2m every year for the potential 24 year life of the contract.

Despite the acknowledged difficulty of consulting on detailed contract negotiations which are often bound up with commercial confidentiality issues, Council notes that there has been regular feedback on negotiations to Scrutiny; that the potential introduction of wheeled bins has been looked at in detail by Scrutiny over a number of years; and that the administration carried out a wheeled bin pilot in Lavender ward with 89% of residents saying they were satisfied with the introduction of wheeled bins and 81% saying the streets were cleaner as a result.   Council notes the administration’s determination to continue with the ‘fine tuning’ process of contract negotiation before moving to a final decision on this issue in December and this Council calls on the Cabinet,  as already planned as part of the ‘fine tuning’ process, to:

1)    Provide details on what choices and flexibility will be available to residents given the Council’s stated commitment not to impose a ‘one size fits all’ waste collection service;

2)    Publish a clear timeline of the engagement planned with residents and businesses across Merton on the proposed changes to their waste collection service;

3)    Deliver a comprehensive strategy for engaging with Friends of Parks groups, including clarifying how they will be involved in decision making on local parks and green spaces under the new contract; and

4)    Report back to the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny panel on the outcomes of the ‘fine tuning exercise’, including more robust savings commitments where possible.