The call-in, which will be debated at a council scrutiny committee meeting tonight (17 August), regards a £18 million deal which would see Veolia continue collecting materials on behalf of the North London borough from April 2017 until 2025.
Waste service changes included in the contract, which would be rolled out as part of the Labour-run authority’s bid to save up to £3 million per year, have been flagged up by Cllr Claire-Louise Leyland, leader of the Conservative Group, as well as opposition councillors Don Williams, Leila Roy and Gio Spinella.
These include charging residents £75 per year for garden waste collections, while rolling out weekly collections of dry recycling and food waste. At the same time, Camden would roll out 120-litre refuse bins and instigate a no side waste policy while reducing collection frequency from weekly to fortnightly.
Decision
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Cllr Leyland argued that the changes were “ideologically driven” and had been decided “behind closed doors” without proper consultation with residents.
She said: “Areas that look really promising are 360-degree cameras on the trucks which will help with following up complaints. But that positive doesn’t make up for the fact we haven’t been consulted on the final strategy.
“£75 per year for green waste is much higher than any of our surrounding neighbours and there are more people in Camden living in ground floor properties than the council realises.”
Cllr Leyland also believes that the introduction of smaller refuse bins combined with less frequent collections could lead to an increase in flytipping on Camden’s streets and food waste not being disposed of properly.
She added: “They’re saying if you have space they will give you a wheeled bin, and expect people to start using the food waste service. But this is quite a shift in how residents will have to deal with waste in their own home.”
Suspension
The councillors are proposing that the contract award be suspended, until a formal consultation is carried out or a resident’s panel of representatives can be assembled to comment on the changes.
However, Richard Bradbury, head of environmental services, has written a report recommending pushing ahead with the contract – arguing that a delay at this point could open the council up to legal challenges from the contract bidders.
The report argues that a formal consultation was not required for the procurement and that a public engagement exercise – The Camden Waste Challenge – had been used to gauge householder views between February and May 2015.
‘Complexity’
It adds while residents’ opinions are “extremely valued”, the complexity of the procurement does not lend itself to a residents’ panel approach.
Mr Bradbury noted: “Residents fully participating in weekly collections of dry recycling and organic waste will have a minority of non-recyclable material, which can be stored securely and collected on an appropriate frequency.
“The proposed capacity for non-recyclable waste of 120 litres per week (equivalent of two standard black rubbish bags) ensures there is adequate storage for the non-recyclable material generated by the average Camden low-rise household.”
He adds: “There are alternatives to the garden waste collection service, which include home composting. All Camden residents are able to buy subsidised compost bins from £5 per bin in order to compost their garden waste at source.”
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