Committee
Transport and the Environment Committee, 23 May 2000
23 May 2000 · S1 · Transport and the Environment Committee
Item of business
Refuse Collection
Mr Magee:
Watch on SPTV
We do not do a costing exercise on that but burdens is an issue. We talk to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities as well as to individual councils. We keep a close liaison with the Scottish Executive, bearing in mind that councils have to respond to a variety of requests for information and statistics, not just from the Accounts Commission. We are part of a working group with COSLA on performance information.
We are acutely conscious of the point; on the other hand we take the view that what we ask councils to do when they consider their own process and produce information is to a large extent what a well-managed authority ought to be doing anyway and ought to have available anyway. If it is any consolation, one of the studies in our forward programme is of councils' management of information. Some of those issues will be addressed. I hope that that indicates the significance we attach to the issue.
You asked about resources. It is a difficult balance for us. The analogy that is often used is the difference between the spotlight and the floodlight. This is a spotlight, if you like, because it involves consideration of a particular issue across councils. That has to be set in the context of councils' other priorities, which is where we take the floodlight approach.
The balance between priorities and policy decisions on how councils divide their resources between education and social work, or between refuse collection and other functions, has to be a local democratic decision. We can consider performance, but we have to be careful not to interfere in policy issues.
We are acutely conscious of the point; on the other hand we take the view that what we ask councils to do when they consider their own process and produce information is to a large extent what a well-managed authority ought to be doing anyway and ought to have available anyway. If it is any consolation, one of the studies in our forward programme is of councils' management of information. Some of those issues will be addressed. I hope that that indicates the significance we attach to the issue.
You asked about resources. It is a difficult balance for us. The analogy that is often used is the difference between the spotlight and the floodlight. This is a spotlight, if you like, because it involves consideration of a particular issue across councils. That has to be set in the context of councils' other priorities, which is where we take the floodlight approach.
The balance between priorities and policy decisions on how councils divide their resources between education and social work, or between refuse collection and other functions, has to be a local democratic decision. We can consider performance, but we have to be careful not to interfere in policy issues.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
Item 4 on the agenda is the Audit Scotland report, which was circulated to members. We will have a discussion with Audit Scotland officials on the content of...
Mr Bill Magee (Audit Scotland):
Thank you very much, convener. I thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to come along this morning to talk about the report. I am the secretary of...
Mr Martin Christie (Audit Scotland):
In the next 10 minutes or so, I would like to take the committee through the objectives, scope, findings and recommendations of the study. I will then be hap...
The Convener:
Lab
Thank you. That was a useful talk through the report.
Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab):
Lab
I was concerned to hear you mention that council tax payers are subsidising commercial collection to the tune of £10 million. You mention in the part of the ...
Mr Christie:
I believe that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is the governing body that can fine people for not having an arrangement for the disposal of their ...
The Convener:
Lab
What is your view on giving local authority cleansing departments the powers to carry out enforcement? When I was a councillor in Glasgow, we encountered dif...
Mr Christie:
I am not able to express a personal view, but I am interested in initiatives that Glasgow has taken. I believe that the problem can be resolved by co-operati...
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
One of the statistics in the report is that tonnage collected by councils has risen by 14 per cent in the past 10 years. Has there been a parallel population...
Mr Christie:
I do not have information on that to hand. The rise can be related to wheelie bins, the introduction of which has led to a greater tonnage being produced by ...
Nora Radcliffe:
LD
When I was a councillor, I thought my council should have introduced wheelie bins of half the size. A 240 litre bin was used, but a smaller one was given to ...
Mr Christie:
There is currently an interest in the REMADE initiative, which is working with the private sector to develop a market for recyclables. However, it is importa...
Tavish Scott:
LD
I have a question for Mr Magee and a couple for Mr Christie.From my background in local government in Shetland, I found that your organisation was not so muc...
The Convener:
Lab
Yes.
Tavish Scott:
LD
I bow to your superior knowledge, convener.As I said, those parts of the country face higher transportation and freight costs, which means that the market fo...
Mr Magee:
It has often been said that local government's strength lies in its diversity. We recognise that fact, which is why we have the kind of constitutional arrang...
Tavish Scott:
LD
I am sure you are acutely aware of the concerns of Shetland Islands Council—and other councils—about the amount of officer time some of these exercises take....
Mr Magee:
We do not do a costing exercise on that but burdens is an issue. We talk to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities as well as to individual councils. W...
Mr Christie:
Councils are developing area waste plans by working together. There are 11 waste plans in Scotland, which means that groups of two or three councils are work...
Tavish Scott:
LD
I am sorry to go on a bit, but I want to ask specifically about glass and paper. If those products are marketable, because there is a demand for them, how ca...
Mr Christie:
I understand that the REMADE initiative is exploring the issue of waste glass. The lessons to be learned from that exercise will be a valuable contribution t...
The Convener:
Lab
I suspect that members are bidding to join the Local Government Committee.
Linda Fabiani:
SNP
I will try to keep it short, to make up for Tavish Scott's questions. People have used words such as integration. We have these huge targets to meet and we w...
Mr Tosh:
Con
You will have passed Tavish by now.
Linda Fabiani:
SNP
I get very frustrated with all the fine talk about what people have to achieve, when there is no commitment at the top to helping everyone play their part in...
Mr Magee:
I want to avoid giving what will sound like a bureaucrat's answer, but I am afraid that, inevitably, I will fail. I accept entirely that resources are centra...
Robin Harper:
Green
It is difficult not to point out Scotland's appalling record in recycling. At 10 per cent, our best is well below the best in England, which is around 25 per...
Mr Christie:
I will leave the issue of the wheelie bins to one side for the moment. The best material that we have on the option of collecting rubbish that has been sorte...
Cathy Jamieson:
Lab
I am sure that if the issue of commercial premises is highlighted to local authorities, they will want to act on that. Council tax payers will not want to th...
Mr Christie:
I will answer those points in order. On the level of pull-outs, the evidence for the figure of 5 per cent is a wee bit more than anecdotal. We obtained that ...