COUNCIL chiefs are set to back proposals which could see a private company take over bin collections in Worcester from 2017.
Members of Worcester City Council’s cabinet will be asked on Tuesday (July 28) to support plans to outsource the collection of household waste and recycling, trade waste, and garden waste, along with street cleaning, grounds and park maintenance.
The move comes as part of the authority’s bid to slash the amount of taxpayers’ cash it spends on its Cleaner and Greener City service.
Council bosses hope the move will see the authority become an ‘enabling council’ which focuses on the outcomes and services it wants to deliver and then sources the best organisation to deliver those aims in the most efficient way.
Cabinet will be asked to back a process which will see Worcester City Council work with its two neighbours, Malvern Hills and Wychavon district councils, to attract tenders for the work.
Wychavon District Council already contracts out its equivalent services, but its current contracts are soon to come up for renewal.
Malvern Hills District Council currently provides its services inhouse, like Worcester City.
A report to be debated by cabinet members proposes a joint contract for all three councils’ waste and recycling collections, with Worcester separately awarding its own contracts for street cleaning, grounds and park maintenance in order to maintain a local focus on these areas.
If the process gets the go-ahead, operators will be asked to tender for the contracts from January with any new services in place for September 2017.
Under the proposals, 114 roles will be affected although council chiefs insist the majority of staff are expected to transfer over to the new contractors.
The process will involve extensive consultation with the public, council staff and trade unions.
Coun Andy Roberts, Worcester City Council’s Cabinet member for a Clean, Green and Safe City, said: “It’s important to stress that if we do go down this route our residents will see little change. “We will ensure that any contracts we enter into will maintain the same high standards of waste and recycling collections, of street cleaning and of maintenance of our parks.
“We will not do anything that compromises Worcester’s hard-earned reputation as a clean, green and safe city.
“But like all councils, we need to continue to make efficiencies and contracting out these services will be a significant step in the direction of achieving those vital savings.”
However, Coun Lynn Denham, Labour’s spokesperson on commissioning said: “This is the first detailed report we have seen from the administration. What they appear to be proposing is a very complex procurement process over a long period of time.
“It’s not certain to release a big saving as anticipated and there will be considerable costs involved in the process.
“The services they are talking about are the largest services the City Council provides and have been extremely successful,” she added.
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