Purpose

The Council operates an in-house waste service
that collects residual waste, recycling, food waste and
garden/green waste from domestic properties as well as operating a
commercial waste service to businesses within the borough.
 
The entire road going fleet for Waste Services
consists of 38x vehicles ranging from 3.5t delivery vehicles
through to 26t Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCV). In total the
Council operates 25x 26t RCVs which are combination of single back
with split (six) and trade bin lifts (five) and twin back with
split bin lifts (14).
 
The first 11x 26t RCV (all single back) are
now 6 years old and with long lead times for RCV it is imperative
the Council moves forward now with placing orders to replace
vehicles.
 
A consideration when replacing the fleet is
has been access. When Hemel Hempstead was designed, the volume of
car ownership was never envisaged and accordingly properties were
not designed with driveways.
 
With car ownership in Hemel Hempstead
seemingly increasing crews are encountering more and more access
issues – from November 2024 to October 2025, 665 streets were
reported by crews as being inaccessible due to access issues, which
means multiple properties on these streets were not collected on
the correct day, and arrangements had to be made to revisit (where
capacity allowed) putting increasing pressure on crews and
operations, as well as leading to complaints from residents.
 
Additionally, Dacorum has a relatively high
volume of properties in rural villages, which have their own
challenges for a 26t RCV.
 
The points highlighted above, have been
considered by the service (and following feedback from drivers)
when specifying new replacement vehicles. Overwhelmingly feedback
from drivers has been to seek vehicles that are narrower than the
current fleet. Only one manufacturer provides such a vehicle, which
is Dennis Eagle, and they have vehicles that meet our requirements
for the first 11 replacement RCV.
 
Using the The
Procurement Partnership Ltd (TPPL) NEPO224 Framework Agreement a
direct award can be made (and has been used by other authorities).
The rationale for direct award is set out above.
 
All vehicles are budgeted for with the Fleet
Replacement Capital Programme.
 
Officer recommend vehicles will be procured in
standard white colour in readiness for Local Government
Reorganisation.

Decision

The Council operates
an in-house waste service that collects residual waste, recycling,
food waste and garden/green waste from domestic properties as well
as operating a commercial waste service to businesses within the
borough.
 
The entire road going
fleet for Waste Services consists of 38x vehicles ranging from 3.5t
delivery vehicles through to 26t Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCV).
In total the Council operates 25x 26t RCVs which are combination of
single back with split (six) and trade bin lifts (five) and twin
back with split bin lifts (14).
 
The first 11x 26t RCV
(all single back) are now 6 years old and with long lead times for
RCV it is imperative the Council moves forward now with placing
orders to replace vehicles.
 
A consideration when
replacing the fleet is has been access. When Hemel Hempstead was
designed, the volume of car ownership was never envisaged and
accordingly properties were not designed with driveways.
 
With car ownership in
Hemel Hempstead seemingly increasing crews are encountering more
and more access issues – from November 2024 to October 2025,
665 streets were reported by crews as being inaccessible due to
access issues, which means multiple properties on these streets
were not collected on the correct day, and arrangements had to be
made to revisit (where capacity allowed) putting increasing
pressure on crews and operations, as well as leading to complaints
from residents.
 
Additionally, Dacorum
has a relatively high volume of properties in rural villages, which
have their own challenges for a 26t RCV.
 
The points highlighted
above, have been considered by the service (and following feedback
from drivers) when specifying new replacement vehicles.
Overwhelmingly feedback from drivers has been to seek vehicles that
are narrower than the current fleet. Only one manufacturer provides
such a vehicle, which is Dennis Eagle, and they have vehicles that
meet our requirements for the first 11 replacement RCV.
 
Using the The Procurement Partnership Ltd (TPPL) NEPO224
Framework Agreement a direct award can be made (and has been used
by other authorities). The rationale for direct award is set out
above.
 
All vehicles are
budgeted for with the Fleet Replacement Capital
Programme.
 
Officer recommend
vehicles will be procured in standard white colour in readiness for
Local Government Reorganisation.