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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.