Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Arwel Roberts, Chair of Performance Scrutiny Committee (copy enclosed) recommending that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, lobby Welsh Government to provide sufficient financial support to local authorities to help them eliminate the use of non-recyclable goods and facilitate carbon reduction measures in School Catering Services.

RESOLVED that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Government seeking it to –

(a)       work with local authorities across Wales in a bid to reduce and eradicate the practice of using single use plastics and non-recyclable goods in the supply,  preparation and serving of school meals;

(b)       provide sufficient financial resources to all local authorities to enable them to realise the above objectives and facilitate carbon reduction measures within their School Catering Services whilst securing the delivery of a sustainable school meals service, and

(c)        that the Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Local Government Association seeking their support in lobbying the Welsh Government to progress the measures set out in (a) and (b) above.

At the Leader’s invitation Councillor Arwel Roberts, Chair of Performance Scrutiny Committee presented the report recommending that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, lobby Welsh Government to provide sufficient financial support to local authorities to help them eliminate the use of non-recyclable goods and facilitate carbon reduction measures in the School Catering Service, without compromising their ability to deliver a viable and sustainable school meals service.

Councillor Roberts referred to the work undertaken with a view to eliminating the use of non-recyclable goods in the service to support the Council’s carbon neutral ambition for 2030.  He reported on the Committee’s comprehensive discussion on the subject and valuable contributions to the debate from two pupils representing Ysgol Dinas Bran.  Cabinet’s attention was drawn to the significant financial pressures facing the service and its reliance on income from the sale of plastic bottled drinks to provide nutritious and cost effective meals for pupils together with the additional forthcoming pressure to provide free school meals for all primary school pupils which further complicated matters.  Gratitude was expressed to Ysgol Glan Clwyd for conducting a drinks trial in their efforts to address the issue which highlighted the costs associated with that approach and challenges involved.  It was clear that the financial and staffing pressure on the service, time constraints to serve meals, limited canteen space and the need to educate some pupils to return their cutlery made it difficult at present to reduce the reliance on non-recyclable materials and the service’s carbon footprint whilst preparing nutritious yet affordable school meals.  The service’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and use of non-recyclable material was recognised as was the need to deliver a viable service.  Consequently, it was felt that approaches should be made to Welsh Government to seek its support for local authorities nationally to achieve those goals.  Cabinet was asked to write to Welsh Government asking them to work with local authorities across Wales to reduce and eradicate use of single use plastics or non-recyclable products in the service and provide sufficient financial resources for that purpose and facilitate carbon reduction measures whilst delivering a sustainable service.

The Leader thanked Councillor Roberts for the report and work of the Scrutiny Committee and had been pleased to note the involvement of young people as part of that process to ensure they had a voice in matters affecting their future.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their work and fully supported the recommendations given the financial support required to deliver on aims to reduce usage and dependency on single use plastics.  He elaborated on the drinks trial at Ysgol Glan Clwyd and the challenges faced together with the significant financial impact: approximately £220k per annum for stopping the sale of drinks in secondary schools and £200k per annum for selling/decanting drinks into reusable cups.  There were also problems with reusable cups not being returned.  Whilst the service was committed to reducing its use of plastic it was hampered by the financial costs associated with that aim and current model for school catering.  The expansion of the service to provide free school meals for all primary pupils also raised additional challenges in terms of its future delivery and impact on the service.

Cabinet considered the report and debate focused on the following points –

·         Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill acknowledged the difficulties faced by the service in attempting to meet environmental ambitions and fully supported the recommendation to engage with Welsh Government in that regard.  Given that it was a national issue and to further strengthen the Council’s position, he proposed an additional recommendation to also seek support from the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) to progress those measures. Councillors Huw Hilditich-Roberts and Arwel Roberts voiced their support for the proposition in order to present a collective and united position on the issue

·         Councillor Brian Jones highlighted that following the Scrutiny Committee debate the two pupils from Ysgol Dinas Bran had been disappointed that more could not be done at this stage in order to address the issue and he advocated collective working and regular communications with schools and young people to find innovative solutions in order to move the climate change agenda forward

·         the Head of Highways and Environmental Services recognised the disappointment and frustration that a quick resolution had not been possible in this case given the complexities involved and stressed the service’s commitment and efforts in that regard.  In light of the new requirements for free school meals the service needed to focus on delivering that work over the next twelve months, and whilst it may take longer to achieve the service goals in reducing carbon and single use plastics, all were committed to resolving the issue

·         Councillor Bobby Feeley queried whether there would be merit in linking both the requirement for free school meal provision in primary schools to the aims of eliminating single use plastic in the service and review them collectively.  Officers advised that the free school meals provision was a primary school issue whereas the plastics issue was largely a secondary school issue as it related to the sale of drinks in plastic bottles and therefore they were separate issues

·         in response to questions from Councillor Mark Young, attention was drawn to the good progress made to reduce plastic in other areas of the service as detailed in the report but this particular element relating to drink sales in secondary schools had proved particularly challenging for the reasons outlined; there was insufficient funding in the current budget allocation to cover this element and therefore the cost of delivering the change would need to be met by an increase in school meal prices or by passing on the costs to schools.  It was noted that Ysgol Glan Clwyd did not wish to return to selling drinks in plastic containers which would leave a financial deficit to be met; it was also unclear whether the roll-out of free school meals would create a financial pressure.

The Leader invited questions from non-Cabinet members but given the amount of questions raised regarding the wider issues, which would have been best put during the initial scrutiny of the item, he asked that questions be confined to the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations as detailed in the report in order to progress the issue.  Officers noted members’ suggestions and responded to questions raised –

·         confirmed that the majority of reusable cups provided to facilitate the drinks trial had not been returned and had been found in various locations, some smashed, and it was thought many were taken home by pupils; staff regularly looked for the cups around the school in order to return them to the dining room

·         Ysgol Glan Clwyd did not wish to return to selling drinks in plastic containers but to make the trial a permanent feature in the school would require an additional £20k per annum which could not be met by the service; whilst regular dialogue would continue with the school in that regard discussions would need to focus on how that funding shortfall would be met going forward

·         explained the need to comply with Welsh Government guidance on nutrition and food in schools which meant water, fruit based and milk based drinks with no carbonated drinks sold by the service in schools

·         with regard to the suggestion to lobby the UK Government to change national legislation and ban the production of single use plastics, the Leader felt that given Scrutiny’s recommendations and complexities of the issue locally, the support of Welsh Government and WLGA should be sought in the first instance.

Councillor Emrys Wynne highlighted the need to continue work in the school catering service to try and achieve the Council’s aim of reducing single use plastics and Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts provided assurances that the ambition in the service was to become plastic free and reduce carbon wherever possible with an appetite from both the service and schools in that regard.  He explained that due to the significant financial costs associated with progressing the element relating to the sale of drinks in single use containers it was not possible to do so at the present time, hence the recommendation to seek additional funding from the Welsh Government for that purpose and facilitating carbon reduction measures.

Having considered the Scrutiny Committee’s report and recommendations and the additional recommendation proposed by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill it was –

RESOLVED that Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Government seeking it to –

(a)       work with local authorities across Wales in a bid to reduce and eradicate the practice of using single use plastics and non-recyclable goods in the supply, preparation and serving of school meals;

(b)       provide sufficient financial resources to all local authorities to enable them to realise the above objectives and facilitate carbon reduction measures within their School Catering Services whilst securing the delivery of a sustainable school meals service, and

(c)        that the Cabinet, on behalf of the Council, writes to the Welsh Local Government Association seeking their support in lobbying the Welsh Government to progress the measures set out in (a) and (b) above.