Agenda item

Councillor Warwick introduced the report and highlighted that the Government had just announced its new Resources and Waste Strategy. The Strategy included the following:

·         Proposals to ensure producers pay the cost of recycling packaging;

·         Weekly food waste collection;

·         Promoting free garden waste collection;

·         Introduce a consistent set of recyclable materials and labelling on packaging.

Councillor Warwick stated that the report linked closely with the new Strategy and the Council was intending to respond positively to the Government on its proposals.

Councillor Warwick highlighted that a detailed procurement exercise had been undertaken with consultant’s advice.  The 2016 survey had indicated the popularity for introducing kerbside glass collection and it was proposed this would be introduced from the start of the one year contract extension.  Although this one year contract extension was more expensive than currently charged (due to the shorter timescale and inclusion of kerbside glass recycling), comparison indicated it was at a mid-point in terms of price.  The contract extension proposed would also enable the lease of some new refuse vehicles to improve reliability.  There would also be a dedicated contract management team based within the Council.  Councillor Warwick highlighted that legal advice was that it was not possible to enter into a joint contract with East Hants District Council as they had delegated provision of the service to Havant District Council.  She thanked the Strategic Director for his work in progressing the contract negotiations.

At the invitation of the Chairman, Councillors Thompson and Bell addressed Cabinet as summarised below.

Councillor Thompson

·         Welcomed the proposal to introduce kerbside glass collection but believed it should have been included when the current contract was awarded 8 years ago;

·         Expressed regret it would only be a monthly collection of glass and queried whether this would change to fortnightly after the one year contract extension period?

·         Was the cost of the collection containers included?

·         Welcomed the Government announcement regarding food waste collection but urged the Council to introduce before the deadline given of 2023.

Councillor Bell

·         Welcomed the Government’s proposals in relation to waste and recycling;

·         Requested that the Integra presentation given at The Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 13 December 2018 be made available to Members;

·         Agreed with Councillor Thompson’s comments that kerbside glass recycling should have been introduced earlier and that food waste recycling should be introduced as quickly as possible.

Councillor Warwick stated that the capital cost of purchase of new containers was included in paragraph 2.2 of the report.  The Integra presentation would be made available to Members.

With regard to frequency of glass collection, the Strategic Director advised that this varied between local authorities with some collecting fortnightly and some monthly, without a significant different in collection rates.  The monthly collection would operate for one year and Members’ could then decide whether they wished to increase frequency based on experience.

In response to questions, the Strategic Director confirmed that benchmarking information indicated that the current contract was one of the cheapest compared with other local authorities and had offered significant savings to the Council.  The overall quality of service provided had been good, although he acknowledged there had been some issues recently with vehicle breakdowns as the end of the contract approached.

The Strategic Director confirmed that Members’ workshops would be organised early in 2019 which would offer an opportunity to consider further various matters raised.

The Strategic Director advised that the report had been considered at The Overview and Scrutiny Committee where Members’ had requested that Cabinet consider further the proposed choice of pricing proposal (detail in exempt minute).

Cabinet agreed the recommendations in principle before moving to exempt session to discuss the matters contained within the exempt appendices to the report.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons outlined above, discussed during the exempt session below, and set out in the Report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the waste collection contract with Biffa be extended for one year until 30^th September 2020 on terms as detailed in exempt resolution 1 below.

2.         That the terms for the core service provision be approved as set out in the exempt resolution 2 below and that officers be authorised to take the necessary actions in relation to the contract and the Inter Authority Agreement with East Hampshire District Council to give effect to this decision.

3.         That a contract for a kerbside glass collection service from October 2019 until September 2020 be awarded for one year on the terms set out in Exempt Appendix 1 of the report and thereafter incorporate kerbside glass collection as part of the baseline service to be provided for in the waste collection contract.

4.         Further to Resolution 3 above, that the Council’s Contract Procedures Rules be suspended to allow for the award of the contract to the existing contractor.

5.         That the resolution of the trade waste position which has arisen within the scope of the existing contract is resolved as proposed in Exempt Appendix 5 of the report.

6.         That the necessary revenue and capital expenditure provision required for its decision on Resolutions 1 and 2 above be incorporated into the financial proposals for the 2019/20 budget.

7.         That the timetable and key milestones for the retendering of the waste contract be noted.