RESOLVED:
(1) That the recommendations from the Joint Cross-Party working group attached in Appendix 1 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.
(2) That the comments from Overview and Scrutiny Committee attached in Appendix 12 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.
(3) That the responses from the public consultation as summarised in Appendix 2 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision
(4) That Cabiniet approved a Competitive Dialogue procedure for the procurement of the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing contract.
(5) That Cabiniet approved a joint project board to include the Executive Members for Finance as well as the Executive Member for waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and NHC to monitor the progress of the procurement project and for the delegation of powers to the Head of Operations (EHC) and Director of Place (NHDC) in consultation with project board in relation to amendments to the specification or service design.
(6) That Cabiniet approved to a Contract length of 8 years with the possibility of up to an 8 year extension.
(7) That Cabiniet approved the provision of customer services and contact handling being delivered in-house and a future report detailing how this will be delivered be provided in 2023.
(8) That Cabinet noted the introduction of a new weekly separate food waste collection service in 23L caddies for houses and in wheeled bins for flats in East Hertfordshire from 2025.
(9) That Cabiniet approved residual waste collections occurring on a three weekly collection cycle from 2025. The implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Director of Place/Head of Operations in consultation Project Board. As referenced in 8.11 to 8.46.
(10) That Cabinet noted the standard receptacle for residual waste being 180L in size and that all new and replacement residual waste containers for houses will be 180l as soon as is reasonably practicable and phased in commencing no later than from 1st April 2023 in East Hertfordshire.
(11) That Cabiniet approved the transition to a standard bin colour across East and North Hertfordshire as outlined in 8.47 to 8.56 as soon as is practicable and no later than 1st April 2023.
(12) That Cabiniet approved the inclusion of plastic film in the mixed dry recycling collections from 2025, the implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Project Board and subject to the outcomes of Resources & Waste Strategy consultation on consistency.
(13) That Cabinet noted the cessation of bring bank services for paper and textiles in East Hertfordshire no later than the end of 2023
(14) That Cabiniet approved the cessation of kerbside textiles collections in North Hertfordshire with the shared waste service proactively engaging with the charity-sector to promote alternative outlets for expired textiles by the end of 2023.
(15) That Cabiniet approved the cessation of kerbside battery collections in North Hertfordshire from May 2025 with the shared waste service proactively promoting alternative recycling outlets.
(16) That Cabiniet approved the service policy statements as outlined in Appendix 3 and for these to be further updated in advance of the contract start in May 2025 and be delegated to Head of Operations/Director of Place in consultation with the Executive Members.
(17) That Cabinet agreed to the principle of aligning the garden waste collection charge from 2025
(18) That Cabinet agreed in principle to the service design described in 8.94 to 8.93, should the outcomes from the Resources and Waste Strategy Consistency consultation mandate the separate collection of fibre, subject to the constitutional requirements for decision making.
(19) That Cabinet noted the procurement process will include evaluation of options to reduce the carbon emissions of the waste service to contribute to achieving the Council’s 2030 net zero target.
REASONS FOR DECISIONS:
(1) These recommendations are in accordance with the Aim and Principles of the shared service detailed in Appendix 4 and offer an opportunity to ensure that services are financially and environmentally sustainable in the medium term. In particular it is an opportunity for the service to mitigate its carbon impacts and encourage a more sustainable lifestyle for residents.
(2) It is necessary to ensure that any contract being procured is attractive to the market and by aligning services with EHC this will allow for greater efficiencies in the contract.
(3) Increasing costs associated with contract inflation (9.92% in 2022/23) also require us to proactively seek alternative ways of delivering services and ensure we maximise the efficient of our operations.