Issue - items at meetings - Bulky waste contract

Report of the Executive Director Economy, Environment & Culture

That the Urgency Sub-Committee:

1)             Approves the bringing in-house, within Cityclean, of the bulky waste collection services at the end of the current contract on 18 June 2020.

2)             Agrees for charges to remain the same while a complete review is undertaken, once the service is brought in-house to determine the pricing model moving forward.

6.1          The Urgency Sub-Committee considered a report of the Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture that sought committee approval to change the service delivery model for bulky waste collection services in Brighton & Hove.

6.2          Councillor West noted that there was no recycling of any of the materials collected under the current contract that he found a shame as there were undoubtably items collected that could be re-used. Councillor West stated that all Members were concerned about Cityclean’s capacity to deliver services and the committee would be aware of the problems with the garden collections service that would also operate the new bulky collections service. Councillor West stated that the in-house option was his preference but there needed to be a very honest appraisal on whether the service would work that way.

6.3          The Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture stated that assurance was required that Cityclean had the capacity to deliver a new service given previous challenges and the new challenges that would arise from the Covid-19 pandemic.

6.4          Councillor Wares asked for the level of complaints received from residents about the service currently in place.

6.5          The Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture replied that those figures weren’t to hand but in general it was not a service area that received complaints.

6.6          Councillor Wares noted that the committee were not being asked to consider a business case to balance the forecasted outcomes for the service to be brought in-house and there was only the option to review the decision once a decision had been made. Councillor Wares stated his concern that there was little detail in the report about continuing the current contract or re-drafting the current terms. Councillor Wares highlighted the similarities between this proposal and the decision made on bringing the enforcement service in-house that in his opinion, had turned out to be a poor choice. Councillor Wares asked for clarification on the process detailed in paragraph 7.5 and for an update in the compliance issues at Cityclean and whether the service was still in special measures.

6.7          The Chair stated that there had been five waivers on the contract and a further waiver was unpalatable and unsound. In addition, there was insufficient time to re-procure the service.

6.8          The Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture explained that the council had to adhere to its Contract Standing Orders and therefore would have to re-tender the service to outsource it. Further, it was not appropriate to perpetuate a contract through a series of waivers. The Executive Director, Economy, Environment & Culture acknowledged the Cityclean service delivery issues and clarified that the service was no longer in special measures with the Traffic Commissioner in relation to the operator’s licence and a significant amount of work had been undertaken to bring that about.

6.9          Councillor Wares stated that he agreed that contract waivers should not be applied perpetually. Councillor Wares noted that only one option had been provided to the committee and that was to bring the service in-house. Councillor Wares recorded his objection that no proposal was made to re-tender the contract and given five waivers had been applied to the contract so far, it seemed insignificant to apply a further waiver in order to start the process for re-tendering the contract.

6.10      The Chair then put the recommendations to the vote that passed.

6.11      RESOLVED- That the Urgency Sub-Committee:

1)             Approves the bringing in-house, within Cityclean, of the bulky waste collection services at the end of the current contract on 18 June 2020.

2)             Agrees for charges to remain the same while a complete review is undertaken, once the service is brought in-house to determine the pricing model moving forward.