Decision details

RESOLVED:That Cabinet:

(1)   Agreed to award the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract to the preferred bidder, as identified in Part 2 of this report contingent upon the imminent completion of the Letchworth depots lease assignment from the incumbent provider to the Council.

(2)   Agreed to the delegation of powers to the Director of Resources and the Director of Place in consultation with the Executive Members for Finance and IT and Recycling and Waste Management to determine whether the Council Capital funds vehicles.

(3)   Agreed to approve the formation of a joint mobilisation project board to include the Executive Members responsible for digital transformation as well as the Executive Member covering waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and North Herts to monitor the progress of the mobilisation of the waste, recycling and street cleansing contract.

(4)   Had due regard for the draft statutory guidance in Appendix 6 and taking into account the matters set out in this Part 2 report and any Part 2 clarifications, reconfirms the decision on the 3-weekly collection frequency of residual waste collections made by Cabinet as per 7.5 and outlined that the clear reasons for the decision were that:

·       Options for fortnightly collections were considered, but the proposed service design provided better opportunities for increasing recycling participation.

·       To redesign the provision of services at this late stage would be a significant waste of resources.

·       Households with ‘smelly waste’ would be allowed the opportunity for more frequent collections.

·       The service design offered financial savings and provided best value for money.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)   An extensive procurement exercise has been undertaken for waste, recycling and street cleansing services.

(2)   The procurement including specification development has been supported by external consultants Eunomia and legal advisors from Sharpe Pritchard.

(3)   In respect of the decision relating to 3-weekly collection frequency of residual waste, Cabinet had considered the matters and legal advice provided in the Part 2 element of the meeting and had regard to that. Cabinet concluded that there were clear reasons to depart from the draft Statutory guidance that included the matters detailed in the Part 2 and then Part 1 reports. Paragraph 8.32 of the Part 1 report succinctly summarised those public matters that were relevant to the decision. Specifically, Cabinet determined that having declared a climate and an ecological emergency, there were environmental benefits of the proposed service and significant financial benefits to the Council that justified the departure.