In a move the authorities hope will save as much as £700,000 within three years, South Cambridgeshire’s cabinet unanimously voted on favour of the merger on Thursday (October 16), before Cambridge city council’s environment scrutiny committee voted in favour of the proposals on Friday (October 17).
The decision means that from April 2015, Cambridge city’s waste team will be relocated to merge with South Cambridgeshire’s waste team at the Waterbeach waste depot, with a shared head of service position created to lead the team at a cost of around £70,000.
A full consultation with staff and unions will be undertaken to deliver the changes over staffing implications, the councils said, with the prospect of some redundancies still possible.
According to a joint council report: “wherever possible, posts will be reduced vie the careful management of vacancies due to normal staff turn-over and retirements”, adding that “all efforts will be made to reduce compulsory redundancies”.
There are currently approximately 100 staff at South Cambridgeshire and 75 staff at Cambridge city council who are in the scope of the proposals, and merging these teams could save an estimated £175,000 a year (see letsrecycle.com story).
A single pool of waste vehicles for both councils will also be located at the depot, which is close to AmeyCespa’s household waste treatment facility and mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plant, where much of the county’s waste is processed.
Collections
It is also hoped that redesigning and merging the waste collection service between the two councils will reduce the number of collection rounds by at least one, with a saving of around £150,000. Both councils already undertake cross-boundary work to optimise collections for residents.
However, the councils note that the business case for the shared service cannot be finalised until South Cambridgeshire has tested the market for the future value of separated paper during 2015.
The council’s current contract for the processing and sale of separately collected paper with AmeyCespa is due to end in October next year, which could result in a change of income received for the material.
Meanwhile, both councils have also agreed to use the recently procured Recycling Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership materials recycling facility contract, the costs and income from which will not be fully known until both local authorities have entered the contract in November 2014 and October 2015 respectively.
According to the councils, the shared services are expected to be in place from April 2015, with further phases of work to look at whether more efficiencies can be found and income generated.
A detailed implementation plan with financial implications will now be agreed with the shared waste board in order to inform the future budget setting of the two councils.
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