Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of personal interest.

RESOLVED that the decision record of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services held on the 14th September, 2023 be signed as a correct record.

The Cabinet Member considered a report which outlined the charges and provided a proposal for the garden waste charges for the 2024/2025 garden waste collection season.

The report stated that garden waste collection service was carried out between the months of March and November each year. In preparation for the next garden waste season i.e. March 2024 - November 2024 the price for the service was set in accordance with the financial process and in line with the yearly charging digest procedure which fed into the overall financial position of the local authority for the upcoming financial year, scrutinised through consultation and the political process.

The Cabinet Member noted that the timing of the garden waste service did not lend itself to the financial timeline for budget setting regarding the final sign off timeline. As the garden waste service opens to customers in January every year to prepare for service demand, delivery and collection of bins, invoice payments etc. and consequently the charge for the upcoming season needs to be sanctioned sooner and ahead of January 2024.

The report included information, data and trends in regard to the customer base which acknowledged that the data for 2023/2024 garden waste service had shown some stagnation in the trend for the customer numbers and that promotional work would be required to increase from previous years.

It was reported that as a reduction in customer base was deemed likely as higher service charges combined with other cost of living expenses may have resulted in even further decreases in customer base, in 2023/2024 a cautious approach of not implementing the full 10% validation was taken and a reduction in the increase to 5% onto 2022/2023 costs for 2023/2024 season was decided.  It was reported that a reduction in customer base would be a detriment to the overall annual recycling tonnage figures which may also have a detrimental impact on the annual recycling rate for Carmarthenshire.

Whilst a validation of 4% was proposed on chargeable services for 2024/2025, in consideration of the data of the customer uptake, the service sought authorisation from the Cabinet Member to retain the current charge for the service into next season and charge the same amount for 2024/2025.

RESOLVED that the proposed garden waste service charges for 2024/2025 season as set out within the report, be implemented ahead of the final budget consultation and full council meeting in early 2024 which would sanction the budget setting for the Authority for 2024/2025 fiscal year.