However, Commission inspectors called into question the council's ability to make difficult decisions, and suggested this posed a considerable risk to the future of waste services and Gloucestershire's forthcoming PFI contract.
” Our aim is to ensure that the waste disposal service represents best value for money to the Gloucestershire Council Tax payers.“
– Cllr Stan Waddington, Gloucestershire
The county council was given an “excellent”, three-star rating with prospects for improvement described as “promising”. Commission inspectors said the council had a “clear, high-level understanding and commitment” for meeting its landfill diversion and recycling targets.
The county was praised for its well-managed waste facilities, improved recycling facilities and customer care.
Audit Commission senior manager Stephen Malyn said: “As a result of high-level commitment and concerted action by the council and its partners, the residents of Gloucestershire are increasing the levels of household waste they recycle and compost.
“They are to be congratulated for using the facilities provided by the councils, with the result that 30% of household waste will be recycled and composted in the county in 2005/06,” Mr Malyn said.
However, the council narrowly missed its 2003/04 recycling target of 24%, and the Audit Commission warned that the overall amount of waste collected from households is high while there is currently no strategy in place for waste minimisation.
Risks
On top of this, the Audit Commission warned that a number of risks related to the council's planning performance and upcoming Private Finance Initiative contract “have the potential to adversely impact on the council's ability to deliver improvements”.
Inspectors warned that a service level agreement is not yet agreed, while land issues are not yet finalised for the contract. They said local politics could delay decision-making and that “recent planning decisions call into question the council's ability to make difficult planning decisions”.
The report comes after waste firm Grundon had a proposed recycling facility turned down against the advice of council officers (see letsrecycle.com story).
Nevertheless, inspectors said the procurement of the PFI contract, which is backed by 30 million of government PFI credits, is progressing well. Two waste firms are currently shortlisted – Cory and Shanks – with a decision expected in September. The contract itself is set to begin in April 2006.
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Cllr Stan Waddington, Gloucestershire's cabinet member for the environment, said: “We are very pleased with the findings of the Audit Commissions report, which is a real testament to the work of our staff. We are now in the final stages of identifying the successful bidder for our waste disposal contract.
“Our aim is to ensure that the waste disposal service represents best value for money to the Gloucestershire Council Tax payers and meets the European environmental standards for waste treatment. We recognise that to achieve this will need even closer cooperation with our District Council partners,” Cllr Waddington added.
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