Agenda item

(Environment Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-084-2015/16).

(1)        That the findings and conclusion of the recent review of the Council’s Waste and Recycling Collection arrangements be noted; and

(2)        That these findings be taken into consideration for any future service contract procurement.

The Environment Portfolio Holder presented a report on the review of the Waste Management Contract undertaken by the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny function.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that the Council’s contract with Sita, its previous waste, recycling and street cleansing contractor, came to an end after a seven year period on 3 November 2014. The process of awarding a new contract began in 2013, with competitive dialogue chosen as the procurement methodology, in recognition of the scale and complexity of the contract. At the final tender stage, all the remaining contractors bid on both a five-day collection and a four-day collection basis. The most advantageous tender, in terms of price and quality, was submitted by Biffa Municipal Ltd, who were appointed by the Council in May 2014. The contract mobilisation and handover went well and Biffa performed satisfactorily during the period from November 2014 up until May 2015, during which time they were operating the previous five-day collection arrangements.

The Portfolio Holder reported that, following the switch to the four-day collection schedule and the introduction of new vehicles and technology on 12 May 2016, it quickly became apparent that Sita was struggling to provide the service required of them. Over a period of several weeks, an unacceptably high level of missed collections were reported and the service was only now fully stabilised. The Portfolio Holder believed that it was very important to establish the reasons behind this service failure, not only to help in rectifying any ongoing problems and achieving an acceptable level of future service, but also to help in identifying any lessons for the Council, with respect to the letting of other major service contracts.

The Environment Portfolio Holder had formally requested the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to undertake a review on his behalf, the outcomes of which were to be formally reported back to Cabinet. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had subsequently agreed the request and determined that the Neighbourhoods and Communities Select Committee was best placed to undertake the review, by virtue of their Terms of Reference.

The Portfolio Holder highlighted that a number of the problems encountered during the introduction of the revised four-day collection arrangements could have been avoided with additional time to:

·                 improve staff training and familiarisation with new vehicles and ICT systems;

·                 test drive new routes more thoroughly;

·                 retain and utilise local knowledge of existing staff;

·                 fully run in new fleet vehicles; and

·                 have operated for longer from new depot locations.

The Portfolio Holder also emphasised that the Review had found:

·                  Competitive Dialogue, including Member interviews, was an effective means for procuring large service contracts;

·                  cross party Portfolio Holder Advisory Groups played a positive role in shaping service contracts;

·                  the innovation forum established between Client Officers and the Contractor had proved useful in addressing service issues and identifying areas for improvement;

·                  the initial mobilisation period had gone well with service quality maintained during the first six months of the new Contract; and

·                  the tool for converting postcodes into revised collection days had been particularly useful.

The Chairman of the Neighbourhoods & Communities Select Committee advised the Cabinet that the full co-operation from Biffa had been a positive outcome from the Review.

Decision:

(1)        That the findings and conclusion of the recent review of the Council’s Waste and Recycling Collection arrangements be noted; and

(2)        That these findings be taken into consideration for any future service contract procurement.

Reasons for Decision:

The Environment Portfolio Holder had requested the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny function to undertake a review of the Council’s Waste & Recycling Collection arrangements and to report back to the Cabinet.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

None, as the Review had examined the first year of operation of the new Waste Management contract.