Veolia signed a 25-year-deal with the council in 1994 for the treatment of residual waste, which involved the development of the Tyseley energy from waste facility. The facility has the capacity to treat around 350,000 tonnes of residual waste per-year.
Under its initial 25-year timetable, this contract would have been due to expire on Wednesday (Jan 16). A two-year extension of the contract in 2016 then saw the end date move to 2021.
Last month, the council opted to put in place a revised interim contract that would see the Veolia deal continue up to 2024.
According to a report published ahead of the decision, ‘essential works’ needed to prepare the Tyseley facility for handover to a new contractor could not be completed within the initial two-year interim period, and further time would be needed.
The council also concluded that extension of this interim arrangement would “enable a suitably structured and thought-through procurement process be delivered by the council over an appropriate time period for the recommissioning of the waste disposal service.”
‘Call-in’
However, this decision was called in for scrutiny by the council’s Resources Committee at a meeting last week (January 10).
Members of the cross-party committee criticised the council for not acting sooner to ensure the facility could be handed over.
Addressing the meeting last week, Cllr Darren Share, acting service director for waste at the council, said the initial two year deal was a ‘last resort’.
“When we started the procurement process, the overrun discussed in the cabinet in 2016 was as a last resort, the aim was to get everything done before,” he said.
“It was only when… through market consultation we needed to undertake some of the essential works, it became clear that the two-year [initial extension] was going to be needed.
“Veolia had raised earlier a five-year [option] but it had been dismissed as there was no financial or economic reason to do it, and our remit was under a two-year over-run.
“The difference this time, as we got more technical advice from our external engineering consultants, we started to see the need of the capital investment. In early-July [2018] Veolia submitted a formal five year proposal and it was that we decided to take to the cabinet member and that we pursue in more detail.”
Tomorrow (January 15), a ‘special urgent meeting’ will take place, where councillors will reconsider the cabinet’s decision on 11 December 2018.
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