Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approve Option 3, which will provide for an in-sourced delivery of customer facing sites and facilities, with these being supported by contracted haulage and disposal, following an initial fully contracted service, and authorises the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment (subject to confirmation by the Strategic Director for Finance and Customer Services) to agree the final delivery arrangements and subject to Council approval through the budget process.

Consideration was given to the report which presented a range of options for the future provision for Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) after negotiations had not been successful between the current partners (Barnsley and Doncaster Councils.)     

Options considered included the contracting out of the services, alongside a range of internal delivery models. There were significant complexities attached to developing an in-house service in what was a highly regulated industry. However, there was also a range of potential benefits in terms of new services and more flexibility in delivering existing services, to meet the needs of residents and the Council.

After collaborative consideration of the options across relevant Council departments, the report recommended an in-sourced delivery of customer facing sites and facilities, with these being supported by contracted haulage and disposal. In recognition of the complexities, the report further recommended the procurement of a delivery partner to provide the HWRC service for up to 3 years, whilst also supporting the Council to develop and implement its in-house delivery model. In addition, haulage and disposal aspects of the contract would continue to be provided by the market beyond the in-sourcing of the front-end of this Service.

The current arrangements would end in October 2023.  The option was to procure a contract, that for the first 3 years would be fully outsourced with a proposal to bring the front end services in house at the end of the 3 years.  All staff would then become employed by the Council, after completion of TUPE arrangements.

It was acknowledged that the Council did not have the required expertise in terms of the onward movement of waste, therefore those elements would remain with the contractor for at least a further 2 years.

The proposal would cost the Council a little more, due to the increase in costs and disposal of waste.  However the significant investment in all 4sites across the Borough would lead to a better experience for residents and staff at those sites.

There were significant changes nationally around how waste and resources were managed and the proposed changes to the contract would allow flexibility going forward.

It was clarified that this would be a 2 phased process towards insourcing the front of house, which enabled the Council to get the right contract for Rotherham and have the commitment to pay a real living wage. This would take a number of years for the full effect to be felt.

This report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board as part of the pre-decision scrutiny process. The Board fully supported the recommendation and made one additional recommendation.

Resolved:

1.    That Cabinet approved Option 3, which would provide for an in-sourced delivery of customer facing sites and facilities, with these being supported by contracted haulage and disposal, following an initial fully contracted service, and authorised the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment (subject to confirmation by the Strategic Director for Finance and Customer Services), to agree the final delivery arrangements and subject to Council approval through the budget process.

2.    That Cabinet be requested to explore the feasibility of having reciprocal arrangements for use of Household Waste Recycling Centres with neighbouring authorities.