Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mike Gerrard, a member of Local Partnerships' management board, claimed that the body could offer councils significant expertise in making “complex” waste contract decisions, including major PFI-funded deals.
We have a whole package of support measures but at the end of the day it's about having someone on the ground who can help
Mike Gerrard, Local Partnerships
Local Partnerships was set up as a joint venture between the Local Government Association and public-private support body Partnerships UK and is the successor to the LGA's project delivery specialist 4ps (see letsrecycle.com story).
Explaining that procuring waste contracts such as PFI involved “commercial and complex investment decisions for local government to make”, Mr Gerrard noted that “by and large it would be a fair to say that that set of competencies and skills aren't usual for local authorities”.
And, he claimed that Local Partnerships could offer particular support in terms of sending experts to work face-to-face with councils on the procurement and delivery of contracts.
“We have a whole package of support measures but at the end of the day it's about having someone on the ground who can help,” he said.
He added: “We have a team of six people in Local Partnerships who each support two to three projects and they're full time on the ground with councils.”
Experience
Explaining that the team was made up of environmental specialists with “years and years” of experience of working on contracts and public-private partnerships (PPPs), Mr Gerrard claimed their presence on project boards would help to ensure a “joined-up” approach nationwide to how councils let major contracts.
He claimed this was particularly important because local authorities had responsibility for delivering the government's waste programme in terms of meeting EU waste and recycling targets, and as a result they operated “like a club”.
As a result, he explained that Local Partnership's support for them aimed to “deliver government policy on time and a value-for-money solution for government”.
Local Partnerships' services in relation to waste contracts operate under the umbrella of the Defra-backed Waste Infrastructure Delivery Programme (WIDP), which focuses on providing support for procuring waste PFI deals.
But, Mr Gerrard stressed that Local Partnerships had no preference for PFI deals, and noted that “quite a lot of the projects being supported are not PFI”.
Councils looking to contact Local Partnerships for waste and recycling contract support can visit http://www.localpartnerships.org.uk/PageContent.aspx?id=90&tp=Y
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