Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and draft minutes

Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: County Hall, Worcester

Contact: Simon Lewis  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

Available papers

The members had before them:

 

A.    The Agenda papers (previously circulated); and

 

B.    The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2018 (previously circulated).

120.

Named Substitutes (Agenda item 1)

Minutes:

Mr S J Mackay for Mr R W Banks.

121.

Apologies/ Declarations of Interest (Agenda item 2)

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Mr R W Banks and Mr P Middlebrough.

 

122.

Public Participation (Agenda item 3)

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 7 March 2019). Further details are available on the Council's website. Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail below.

Minutes:

None.

123.

Confirmation of Minutes (Agenda item 4)

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2018. (previously circulated – pink pages)

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

124.

Technical Update - EFW Plant Reporting Requirements (Agenda item 5) pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Technical Update - EFW Plant Reporting Requirements.

 

The Committee received a technical update from Jim Haywood, the Finance Director, Severn Waste Services and Mercia Waste Management (MWM). 

 

In the ensuing debate, the following points were raised:

 

·         Rob Wilson explained that the Council remained in negotiation with MWM regarding savings and the contract extension which was impacting on the availability of an updated financial model to undertake the ratio analysis testing. He was hopeful that this would be concluded by the end of June

·         Was the Council satisfied that adequate insurance policies were in place to cover market uncertainties that might impact on MWM’s business case? Jim Haywood responded that as part of the loan facility, MWM were required to have insurance policies in place. Rob Wilson added that the insurance risk element of the contract had been assessed by the Council’s risk managers

·         In response to a query about the Maintenance Reserve Account, Jim Haywood explained that a certain amount of money was always kept in reserve for maintenance purposes. Money would be moved in and out of this reserve as needs dictated

·         Jim Haywood undertook to make available details of the resolutions to the “Minor Items” remaining from the construction works as set out in the Fichtner Report. He emphasised that these issues had had no impact on the overall performance of the plant  

·         Concern was expressed about the timeline for the negotiation process with MWM regarding savings and the contract extension, particularly following the issues raised in the KPMG report. Rob Wilson undertook to provide details of the timeline for the introduction of the updated financial model

·         In response to a concern, Rob Wilson undertook to provide confirmation that the issues associated with the Dividends as set out in the KPMG report would not arise again.

 

RESOLVED that:

 

a)    The main categories of reports or information that the Borrower has to regularly produce and the Senior Term Loan Facility Agreement (STLFA) Assurance Statement for the Council attached as Appendix 1 to the report be noted;

 

b)   The Performance operating report attached as Appendix 2 to the report be noted; and

 

c)    The STFLA ratio calculation provided by Mercia Waste Management as per Appendix 3 together with the signed ratio compliance certificate at Appendix 4 be noted; and

 

d)   There were no matters of concern to report to Council.

 

125.

Risk Register (Agenda item 6) pdf icon PDF 74 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the Risk Register.

 

RESOLVED that:

                

a)    The open risks set out in the Risk Register be accepted; and

 

b)   There were no matters of concern to report to Council.

 

126.

Work Plan (Agenda item 7) pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered its work plan.

 

RESOLVED: that the work plan attached as an Appendix to the report be noted.