Two district councils in Hampshire have chosen Veolia Environmental Services as their new joint waste and recycling collections contractor in a move that will together save them over 1 million a year.
The seven year arrangement, which can be extended for a further seven years, was jointly announced by Basingstoke & Deane borough council and Hart district council last week. It involves Veolia taking over Hart district councils collections from an in-house team. The company already operates Basingstoke & Deanes waste and recycling collections.
Documents published by both councils in the lead up to last weeks contract award reveal that Basingstoke & Deane expects to save 1.1 million a year against its waste budget, which is estimated at 4 million for 2011/12, as a result of jointly procuring the collection contract with Hart.
And, Hart council expects to save 90,000 a year compared to its waste budget, which is estimated to be 1.6 million in 2011/12, as a result of the new deal. The new contract is scheduled to come into effect in October 2011, after Basingstoke & Deanes current deal with Veolia expires on September 30.
Hart district councils cabinet member for environment, councillor Stephen Parker, commented: Our staff have done a stunning job over the years but financial pressures have led us to explore different options. Veolia had the best all round score of the bidding contractors.
Our existing collection crews will be joining Veolia under the TUPE regulations and we are confident that with Veolias quality standards combined with our existing crews pride in their work a quality service will be delivered to residents of both authorities.
Meanwhile, Basingstoke & Deanes cabinet member for environment and climate change, councillor Elaine Still, hailed the new contract as a great opportunity to build on the councils existing relationship with Veolia.
She added: Through this new partnership with Hart we can make significant savings of 1 million each year in our area. Through the contract we have reconfirmed our commitment to weekly rubbish collections for our residents and been able to bring in new initiatives to drive up recycling and drive down costs.
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Hart council documents also note that if it was to continue with its in-house service, it would have to spend 1.7 million on a replacement fleet of vehicles and 900,000 to maintain its Springwell Lane depot as the operational site for its service.
They also state that, by creating a joint management team for the contract, the two councils will save up to 267,900 between them in the short term as a result of the joint team requiring less staff than the two councils currently employ with their separate services.
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