The London borough of Islington has decided tobring its waste and recycling services in house, in a movethe local authoritybelieves will save around 3 million per year.
Councillors voted not to renew the local authoritys current waste, recycling and street cleansing contract with Enterprise Islington, and its separate grounds maintenance contract with MRS Environmental Services, also part of the Enterprise Group, at an executive meeting on July 3. Both contracts are worth around 23 million per year.
The 15-year waste services PFI deal with Enterprise Islington is due to expire on June 30 2013, although the council is keen to bring some services in-house sooner if possible.
The decision not to renew the contract was reached after council officers looked into the viability of joining the iESE waste services procurement framework which allows councils to procure services from a list of 11 approved suppliers without having to run a separate full procurement process. But, it found that it could make substantial savings by taking charge of the services itself.
Changes
The council claims that residents are unlikely to see any change in collection services on the ground after it takes over.
It is hoped that the move will allow Islington to reduce costs, improve the delivery of the waste and recycling service in the medium term and allow it greater flexibility to deal with changes in demand caused by increased financial pressures.
Savings are expected to be achieved largely by increasing integration between the services and other parts of the council. Around 1 million of savings are expected to be achieved in the delivery of refuse collection and a further 350,000 in recycling collections, 490,000 through a review of estates recycling and 660,000 within street cleansing services. Much of the funds saved will be channelled into other services including graffiti removal and bulky waste collections.
Cllr Paul Smith, Islington council’s executive member for environment, said: “We’re on the side of residents and committed to providing quality services in tough times. Bringing these services in-house will save 3 million pounds by 2014, and help us provide the best possible service in a time of huge cuts from central government.
“Our number one priority is making sure services like bin collections continue to be on time and efficient. We also strongly believe a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay is the best way to ensure quality services. We’d like to thank our contractor Enterprise for their hard work, including their excellent apprenticeships scheme which we will continue to develop.”
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Staff currently employed by Enterprise and its subsidiary company MRS Environmental Services Limited will be transferred into the employment of the council, which hopes to improve terms and conditions for staff, who would earn the London Living Wage. The council has also revealed that it has reached agreement with the trade unions of staff to allow the switchover, which it said reduced risks to the council.
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