Controversial booking system for East Sussex tips to go ahead
Councillors have voted against calling in the scheme for ten sites across the county
A controversial booking system for East Sussex rubbish tips will move ahead, after a scrutiny committee agreed to take no further action on the proposals.
On Thursday (March 13), East Sussex County Council’s Place Scrutiny Committee considered a call-in request connected with controversial plans to introduce a booking system at the authority’s network of 10 Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS).
Implementation of the system had been agreed by Cllr Claire Dowling, the authority’s lead member for transport and environment, last month. It had proven to be an unpopular proposal, receiving more than 5,467 negative or extremely negative responses during a public consultation.
The call-in request had been lodged by councillors Julia Hilton (Green), Stephen Shing (Ind) and Brett Wright (Lib Dem). The three councillors raised a number of concerns about the proposals, including its impact on those who may struggle to use an online booking system.
In a written submission, the three councillors said: “There has been no resolution of the digital divide Equality Impact Assessment, affecting one in 10 households, notably older residents and residents with additional learning and cognitive needs, with online booking planned to be 24/7, but telephone booking to only be ‘office hours’, Monday to Friday, excepting Bank Holidays.
“It is also likely that those requiring help to take items to the HWRC from carers, relatives and friends, due to lack of access to a private vehicle in their household — around one in eight across the County — may also struggle as friends or relatives would make the booking for the resident, but would find their postcodes and car registration will not reconcile. Both of these problems need addressing.”
The councillors also cast doubt on the level of savings the system would bring and raised concerns about the potential for an increase in fly-tipping as a result of the change, pointing to reports about the experience of neighbouring authorities which have already introduced similar systems.
A final concern related to the potential impact of the booking system on waste collection authorities (i.e district and borough councils) and whether this has been sufficiently considered in the context of potential local government reorganisation.
During the meeting, Cllr Wright also highlighted the public opposition to the proposals, saying the system could result in a ‘reputational hit’ to the council.
Officers addressed these concerns in a report to the committee.
In terms of digital exclusion, officers said the use of a weekday telephone service was considered to be “an appropriate accessible alternative” to online booking. While this part of the booking system would not be available on weekends, officers said residents will be able to book up to two weeks in advance. They also pointed out that residents may be able to have someone make a booking on their behalf, should they need to make an unanticipated visit.
Officers also said the expected savings of £50,000 factored in the running costs of the booking system, both online and by telephone. This was based on the assumption that around one per cent of residents would book by telephone, rather than online.
In terms of fly-tipping, officers said evidence from other authorities and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) did not suggest that the introduction of an online booking system will lead to an increase in fly-tipping. They noted that there had been a national increase in fly-tipping but that this was not considered to be linked to the introduction of booking systems.
In the conclusion of the report, a county council spokesman said: “The system should not be an obstacle to any resident of East Sussex who wants to visit one of the sites with their own waste. The waste team will work to ensure that the HWRS booking system meets the needs of all residents and considers any concerns raised.”
The scrutiny committee had three options available to it: to refer the decision back to Cllr Dowling to reconsider in the context of the concerns; to refer the decision to a full council vote; or to take no further action.
Following discussion of the concerns, Conservative councillor Ian Hollidge put forward a motion for the committee to take no further action.
He said: “We have a responsibility to manage our waste and I think the way this is being done is one of the ways the council is taking the right step forward to manage waste.
“I know I am going to get a lot of stick from my residents, who are going to say ‘what am I doing, what am I saying’, but I am for not pursuing this any longer. Take a vote and let’s stick to the original lead member decision.”
This motion was agreed on a vote of five to four.