The council's cabinet has signed a deal worth up to £140 million over seven years, with the possibility of a three year extension.
Changes will involve a £7million investment in new vehicles, plant and equipment as well as investment in tackling environmental crime. Driving up recycling will also be a priority.
Serco local government marketing director Robin Davies welcomed the contract – which is Serco's 11th UK contract covering waste, recycling and street cleaning and its first within London.
He said: “We are very excited about the prospect of working with an authority that is strongly committed to improving the quality of the local environment and will be working hard to deliver a vastly improved service for local people”
H&F Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment Cllr Nicholas Botterill added: “Residents are rightly demanding cleaner streets and by appointing Serco we expect to see a big improvement in the quality of these services.”
Hammersmith & Fulham is one of the four boroughs within the Western Riverside Waste Authority, using orange “Smart Sacks” to collect commingled paper, cans, plastic bottles, glass and even cartons on its kerbside recycling scheme.
In 2006/7 the borough diverted about 14,440 tonnes of material from landfill this way, achieving a 24% recycling rate.
Procurement
In May 2006, Hammersmith & Fulham council decided to market test its services for refuse collection, recycling and street cleansing. At the outset, it was decided that the in-house service should compete for the contracts.
A panel of experts evaluated all the bids and although the in-house team's bid was competitive, specialist cleaning company Serco's bid was judged to have the clear edge on quality and was more likely to deliver the step change in improvement required.
Cllr Botterill commented: “The simple process of tendering has already delivered big savings to taxpayers and street cleansing teams will have state-of-the-art machinery and cleaning will happen at the times when it is most needed.
He added: “Our search has taken over 18 months, but we will continue to promise – and deliver – a cleaner, greener borough.”
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