The East Hampshire District Council Shareholders Sub-Committee convened to discuss and approve recommendations regarding East Hampshire Norse Ltd (EHN). The committee approved the East Hampshire Norse business plan, ratified the appointment of Nicholas (Nick) Drake as Operations/Managing Director, and Pennie Brown as an EHDC Director of East Hampshire Norse Ltd. The committee also reviewed the year-end report for 2024/2025 and the quarter one report for 2025/26.

East Hampshire Norse - Shareholder Committee Report

The Shareholders Sub-Committee unanimously approved the recommendations outlined in the East Hampshire Norse - Shareholder Committee Report.

The approved recommendations included:

• Approving the business plan at appendix 1 in the interim until the next Shareholders Sub-Committee on 30 October 2025, with an updated proposed business plan for 2025/26 to be prepared following a workshop and presented in a format that meets the requirements of the shareholder agreement.
• Ratifying the appointment of Nicholas (Nick) Drake as Operations/Managing Director.
• Ratifying the appointment of Pennie Brown as an EHDC Director of East Hampshire Norse Ltd.
• Noting the year-end report for 2024/2025 for East Hampshire Norse Ltd.
• Noting the quarter one report 2025/26 for East Hampshire Norse Ltd.

East Hampshire Norse Ltd

East Hampshire Norse Ltd is a joint venture company between East Hampshire District Council and Norse Commercial Services (NCS), primarily owned by Norfolk County Council. EHN provides waste collection, street scene, and grounds maintenance services to EHDC, with the purported cost for 2025/26 in the suggested business plan valued at £7.1 million, representing approximately half of EHDC's overall revenue spend.

The council's constitution delegates the shareholder function to the cabinet as decision maker and the Shareholders Sub-Committee as advisory. This was revised on 29 May 2025, to allow the Shareholders Sub-Committee to be the decision maker.

Business Plan

The business plan must be agreed in writing by the Shareholders Sub-Committee annually, setting the policy parameters within which the company operates for that year, including the level of expenditure and commitments the company can make on behalf of the commissioning authority. The EHN Business Plan 2025/26 states that the company's priorities for 2025/26 are to produce an agreed budget, implement continuous improvements across the services, and maintain its commercial business while maintaining an excellent relationship with its partners at East Hampshire District Council.

The business plan also addresses the statutory requirement for all councils to have a food waste service in place by 1 April 2026, as well as improving the carbon footprint of all services under the contract. These proposals will be further discussed in 2025 and will form part of the business plan proposal in 2026.

Appointment of Operations Director

The Shareholder Committee considered the Job Description and CV provided by the company in support of the proposed appointment of Nicholas (Nick) Drake as Operations Director and provided retrospective approval. According to the EHN OD Proposal, Mr Drake has been in the position for approximately eight months and has been instrumental in introducing the kerbside glass collection, the appointment of the Operations Manager, and the design of the food waste service.

Appointment of Company Director

The committee approved the appointment of Pennie Brown as an EHDC Director of East Hampshire Norse Ltd. The report noted that a director was identified and appointed without formal Shareholder Committee approval, and that this request is retrospective.

Year-End Report 2024/25

The year-end report for 2024/2025 presented to the Committee contained confirmation that the company performed in accordance with the business plan 2024/25 and demonstrated a year of significant operational stabilisation for the company. Key performance indicators showed marked improvement over the previous year, with a notable reduction in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints.

Management interventions successfully addressed historic issues with inconsistent crew allocation and a backlog of bin deliveries.

Financially, the company remained profitable, though the final trading profit of £53,900 was 55% below the budgeted target, primarily due to an overspend of £129,000 on agency staff required to maintain service delivery.

Quarter One Report 2025/26

The Q1 2025/26 report indicated that the positive operational trends from the previous year are continuing, with missed bin reports decreasing by 16% compared to the same period in 2024/25.

The report also raised concerns about the increase in the number of justified Stage 1 complaints, which rose from 25 to 40 for the like-for-like Q1 period. Additionally, reported fly-tipping incidents were up significantly, with service requests rising 38%, from 352 to 486 in the same quarter of the previous year. Despite this increase, East Hampshire Norse Ltd cleared 98% of these incidents within the SLA specification¹.

The recent resignation of the Operations Manager in June 2025 was also noted as a key leadership risk requiring active management by Norse to mitigate.