Environmental services partnership coordinator Terry Rourke said this would give the council “the flexibility of an in-house team with the freedom of a contractor”.
Allerdale, centred around the seaside town of Workington, has abandoned its former detailed bill of quantities specification for the contract, and will instead judge the firm’s performance on “fitness for purpose”.
“Our inspectors will not be constantly on the contractor’s back running a monitoring regime,” Mr Rourke said.
“Instead, they will become community development officers making sure that what is delivered is what the community wants, not what we think it wants. It is quite a major change.”
The council has had money allocated by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to boost its composting service to cover 9,000 homes. It at present covers 2,000.
It also hopes to replace its mobile civic amenity site service for its rural areas with a mobile recycling vehicle.
Focsa previously also held the council’s grounds maintenance contract, but this has gone to Scottish firm Mitchell and Struthers.
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