The contract to run seven of the civic amenity sites – in Ambleside, Barrow, Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Kirkby Stephen, Millom and Ulverston – ended with effect from January 14.
”The chief executive exercised his emergency powers to terminate with effect from 14 January 2007 the contracts with CAW Ltd on the grounds they have committed breaches which are incapable of being remedied “
– Report to councillors, Cumbria CC
Exact reasons for the police investigation were not being made public for legal reasons, although councillors have been told that it relates to the provision of services at the sites and the committing of “breaches which are incapable of being remedied”.
But, it appears that evidence gathered so far in the investigation was sufficient for the county council to terminate the contract.
A full meeting of the council discussed the matter last night, but both press and public were excluded from the proceedings.
Staff
A council spokesman told letsrecycle.com today that 21 site attendants and 7 drivers have been transferred from Barrow-in-Furness company CAW Ltd to the council-owned waste firm Cumbria Waste Management, which has taken over the running of the sites.
The seven sites were closed to the public on Tuesday and Wednesday (January 15-16) to allow the safe transfer of operating responsibility to pass to Cumbria Waste.
A statement made to the public from the county council said: “The county council would like to apologise for any inconvenience cause by the closures, but is acting in the wider public interest.”
“Breaches”
Prior to the private meeting of the county council yesterday, a report to councillors explained: “There is an ongoing investigation, led by police but with trading standards remaining heavily involved, into the provision of services at these seven civic amenity sites by CAW Ltd, a waste collection, transfer and disposal company based in Barrow-in-Furness.
“Based on evidence to date the chief executive exercised his emergency powers to terminate with effect from 14 January 2007 the contracts with CAW Ltd on the grounds they have committed breaches which are incapable of being remedied,” the report said.
| Related links: |
The report explained that Cumbria Waste would take over the sites “in the short term” – although the council's spokesman suggested the transfer of staff from CAW Ltd meant in reality, the move was “not an interim measure”.
Cumbria is in the process of awarding a new, long-term waste disposal contract that could include the sale of Cumbria Waste Management, with Shanks Group named late last year as preferred bidder (see letsrecycle.com story).
Subscribe for free