The deal, worth an estimated £18 million, will see Biffa continue to service the authority for a further six years after its current contract ends in July 2018.
The announcement means that Forest of Dean will not be joining its waste services with that of Cotswold district council, Cheltenham borough council and West Oxfordshire for the foreseeable future. A move toward more joined up working between the authorities on activities including waste had been first mooted in 2014, and was called the ‘most radical joint working approach in local government’ (see letsrecycle.com story).
The plans were put forward in the councils’ 2020 Vision for Joint Working report, which envisaged further cooperation across support and waste services, and claimed could save up to £5.5 million each year.
Last year, Cotswold district council told letsrecycle.com that talks were underway to bring collections in Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire under the Ubico umbrella – a teckal-exempt company created by Cotswold and Cheltenham authorities in 2012.
But at the time Forest of Dean, which already contracts Ubico to handle its depot and ground maintenance services, claimed it was “too early to speculate” on its plans.
Biffa
Biffa has meanwhile suggested the contract extension comes as a “vote of confidence”. The firm has provided waste services to Forest of Dean district since 1989 – servicing some 38,000 households in the area.
Under proposals approved by the council this year, Biffa will manage a number of changes to kerbside sort collections in the district from August 2016.
Residents will see their of dry recycling collections increase from fortnightly to weekly, and will also be able to recycle an expanded range of materials including plastic bottles, cardboard, textiles and small WEEE.
In addition, Biffa will deploy a new fleet of 10 vehicles to make collections more efficient. The DAF LF45 chassis with Romanquip Kerbsort bodies can collect food waste and dry recyclables on the same round.
Councillor Marrilyn Smart, cabinet member for the Environment at Forest of Dean District Council, said: “Biffa has worked hard for all residents for nearly 30 years, and its proposals for helping the district to recycle more and waste less make sound sense.
“At a time of extremely tight budgets, we felt it important to maximise service productivity while lowering costs, and are confident that Biffa will achieve this.”
Changes
According to Pete Dickson of Biffa, the service changes planned should lift local recycling by diverting more waste from expensive landfill or energy production.
He added: “All my colleagues and I appreciate the council’s vote of confidence in Biffa. We will continue to focus on providing reliable, efficient and cost-effective collections that meet the needs of all concerned.”
Forest of Dean remains in the four council partnership and has voted to pursue the 2020 Vision. In early 2016 a joint committee will be established to phase in a number of shared services – which does not initially include waste management.
- For more debate on joint working and outsourcing of collections, be sure to book your place at the upcoming Remunicipalisation conference in London. For more details click here.
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