Agenda item

Cabinet:

1.    APPROVED the new operating model whereby waste and street cleansing, trunk road cleaning, recycling collection and weed control services are combined in one single integrated contract offering and the commencement of the procurement of that contract; and

2.     DELEGATED authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Director of Legal & Governance, to take all necessary steps to award the contract post procurement at the estimated value of £10 million per year and deliver an integrated contract for street cleansing, trunk road cleaning, waste and recycling collection and weed control.  

Councillor Osman Dervish presented the report to Cabinet who were addressed by the report author Peter Gay who gave a history of this matter to Members.

In September 2019, the Council started the procurement process for an integrated public realm services contract, tendering for a single contract to include waste and recycling collection, street cleansing, grounds and tree maintenance and associated services. Tendering had commenced but the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic introduced a period of uncertainly with bidders concentrating on service delivery and not new business jeopardising the procurement project plan timetable, leading to a significant risk that the programme would fail with severe disruption to services. Consequently, in September 2020 Cabinet agreed to stop this procurement.

The Public Realm Transformation programme has been reviewed again, concluding the market has now recovered to restart a procurement exercise. In the light of the previous Options Appraisal, Business Case and the present circumstances, three main service delivery models have been reconsidered:

·       Continuing with the current operating model, with waste and recycling collection services and tree maintenance outsourced while street cleansing and grounds maintenance remain in-house. The Tree maintenance contract was extended for one year and is due to expire on 31^st March 2022. The Waste and Recycling Contract will expire on 29^th July 2023.

·       Conduct a procurement exercise and engage an external contractor to deliver waste and recycling collection, street cleansing, grounds and tree maintenance and associated services in a single contract, or various permutations of these services to be included in the procurement with waste services

·       Deliver public realm services through a Local Authority Company either by setting up a new company, using an existing company founded by the Council or partnership arrangement to deliver the services.

Assisted by Eunomia, a recent review indicates that the option likely to deliver the best outcome for the Council is to tender a waste and recycling collection service combined, and integrating, the street cleansing service. The research also indicated that retendering a standalone waste and recycling collection contract was likely to reduce bidder participation, reducing competition. 

An integrated waste and recycling collection and street cleansing service contract will provide the Council opportunities to:

·       Remove demarcation inefficiencies about who is responsible for litter and spillages in the street scene to achieve cleaner streets.

·       Improve supervision across waste collection and street cleansing services

·       Share processes, procedures and ICT systems for swifter rectification of waste and street scene issues 

·       Lower its carbon footprint and improve local air quality with the introduction of ULEZ compliant vehicles, and may include electric and/or hydrogen vehicles where practicable

·       Improve service performance within a framework of best value for money

·       Increase value of the potential contract to the market which could lead to improved competition demonstrating value for money.

The recommendations were discussed and the other options available considered.

Following this consideration:

Cabinet:

1.    APPROVED the new operating model whereby waste and street cleansing, trunk road cleaning, recycling collection and weed control services are combined in one single integrated contract offering and the commencement of the procurement of that contract; and

2.     DELEGATED authority to the Director of Neighbourhoods, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Director of Legal & Governance, to take all necessary steps to award the contract post procurement at the estimated value of £10 million per year and deliver an integrated contract for street cleansing, trunk road cleaning, waste and recycling collection and weed control.