The council’s executive committee agreed on 16 September that an in-house contract would be their “preferred service-delivery option in the longer-term.” This option would involve the service being run in-house by a company owned by the local authority, ending a contract with FCC Environment.
Councillor Marion Fitzgerald, leader of the council, said: “We have today made a big step to ensuring our bin collection service gets back on track and delivers what our residents expect and deserve.
“There is still some work to be done, but this decision makes it clear that this administration’s preference is to bring its services back in-house with a model which brings real benefits in the longer-term.”
Some waste services in Allerdale were suspended for two months this summer after issues arose in the wake of changes to the council’s service. Garden waste, glass, cans and plastic recycling were not collected, with these services only resuming on 9 September (see letsrecycle.com story).
FCC Environment chose not to provide a comment at this time.
Benefits
The council cites a number of benefits to bringing services in-house. Allerdale says it would have greater control over its services and the flexibility to adapt to proposed government changes to waste collections, which could include food waste collections becoming mandatory.
“We have today made a big step to ensuring our bin collection service gets back on track and delivers what our residents expect and deserve.”
Councillor George Kemp, executive member with responsibility for waste services, explained: “It’s unfortunate that we find ourselves in this position, however, we’ve been working hard to resolve the issues with our bin services which started long before we took office.
“This decision is the right one to make, showing our preference to bring the service back in-house and providing a quality service to our residents.”
Other options
Allerdale’s executive committee also considered other options for resolving its waste collection issues in the long term.
The group looked at continuing to work with FCC – who have provided waste services to the borough since 1997 – but under a new and more costly arrangement than that which was agreed during the original tender process. Bringing the service in-house and it being run directly by the council was another option proposed.
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