Cambridgeshire waste merger takes step forward

Cambridge city and South Cambridgeshire councils have agreed in principle to plans to merge waste teams and join-up their waste collection services, following discussions by councillors this week.

Officers from both councils will now draw up a final business case for the move after South Cambridgeshires cabinet agreed to the proposal at a meeting last night (July 10), while councillors on Cambridge Citys Environment Scrutiny Committee approved the plans on Tuesday.

The business case will give further details on how the merger will help the councils achieve efficiency savings of between 170,000 and 500,000 per year, with changes to collection rounds likely to take place to bring services in line across the boundary of the two authorities.

Councillors will consider the business case for the move in October, but a timetable for when any changes may be implemented has not yet been released by the councils.

Commenting on the proposals, councillor Mick Martin, South Cambridgeshire district councils cabinet member for environmental services, said: I am pleased both councils have now agreed the principles of how we can work together to continue to provide a top quality service at lower cost.

Owing to continued cuts to government funding we must find new ways of delivering services and this move is a great fit for us both. The business case will identify where we can be smarter and as the service develops I hope we will be able to deliver even more savings.

Merger

Under the plans Cambridge city council’s team would relocate to South Cambridgeshire district council’s depot in Waterbeach, which is close to AmeyCespa’s household waste treatment facility, where much of the countys waste is processed.

Councillor Peter Roberts, executive councillor for environment, waste and public health at Cambridge city council, added: I am pleased that we are now moving ahead to look at the detail of a possible shared waste service with South Cambs. Given the financial challenges we face we must look at new ways of saving money while keeping up the good quality service that we already provide.

Board

The single waste service will be democratically accountable to each of the councils via a single governance board made up of the executive and cabinet councillors from the district council and the city council. The board will be responsible for setting the strategic vision of the service, agreeing the key operational performance targets and, crucially, ensuring the Service is accountable for the delivery of the performance targets.

Both councils currently operate collection services in-house, with South Cambridgeshire collecting recyclables and residual waste on a fortnightly rotation. Residents in the district are provided with 240-litre capacity wheeled bins for their residual waste, mixed recyclables and green waste, as well as a caddy for paper waste.

Residents in Cambridge meanwhile are provided with three wheeled bins for green waste, mixed recyclables and residual waste, as well as a kitchen caddy for food waste. Collections in Cambridge also take place on a fortnightly rotation.

Increasing numbers of local authorities have joined together with neighbouring councils to provide services such as waste collection in recent years. South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils are among the highest profile authorities to merge their waste services teams, following the award of a joint contract to waste firm Biffa in 2009.