Councillors vow to appeal South Oxfordshire decision

SITA, meanwhile, said today it is hoping to put the case behind it after the legal victory.

” We consider we have good reasons for questioning the judgment and have decided to ask the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal.“
– Cllr David Dobbs, South Oxfordshire DC
The case involved the premature termination of a six-year collection contract with SITA in 2001, and saw the council seeking 3m compensation for its losses and the cost of employing another waste contractor.

The High Court threw out the claims for compensation, saying the council had been wrong to terminate the contract early (see letsrecycle.com story).

Meeting
Council leaders in South Oxfordshire met on Monday night to consider the decision, with councillors voting unanimously in favour of appealing the decision not to award compensation.

The council's cabinet heard from legal experts who have suggested in a confidential report that the case for an appeal is “sufficiently strong to justify it continuing the fight”.

Councillor David Dodds, responsible for the waste service in South Oxfordshire, said of the ruling: “I’m very disappointed with the judgement. It fails to recognise how bad the service was.

“Despite months of an unreliable service we tried very hard to come to an amicable settlement with SITA. But when the service deteriorated yet further in September 2001 with no indication or assurance that it would improve, we felt we had no choice but to terminate the contract,” he added.

” Both parties have learnt from this and I hope that we can both now move on and put this unfortunate episode behind us. “
– Per-Anders Hjort, SITA UK
The councillor said the council had studied the judgement carefully and taken legal advice as to the options open to it. He said: “We consider we have good reasons for questioning the judgment and have decided to ask the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal against it.”

SITA
SITA UK said today its actions had been vindicated by Mr Justice David Steel's ruling.

It said there had been considerable criticism in the industry of its position when the council made allegations of a repudiatory breach of the contract the consequent termination of the deal.

The company told letsrecycle.com it now hoped to put the incidents behind it and move on.

SITA's managing director, Per-Anders Hjort, said: “Whilst I am disappointed that this matter ever came to court, I am aware of the council officers’ overriding duties to the public and that they must have felt it right to take the action they did based on the advice they received.

“Both parties have learnt from this and I hope that we can both now move on and put this unfortunate episode behind us,” Mr Hjort added.

SITA now serves about 12 million householders across the country through contracts with local authorities. It said it is “committed to delivering services that meet local authorities’ needs in managing the safe treatment and disposal of waste most effectively, and achieve Best Value”.