Shropshire county council is refuting claims that Shrewsbury and Atcham was denied the opportunity to join the Shropshire Waste Partnership – which includes all other councils in England's most rural county.
”. I would like to reiterate that we feel it is extremely important that SABC joins the partnership in the near future to help boost its performance. “
– Cllr John Hurst-Knight, Shropshire county council
According to Shropshire county council, Shrewsbury & Atcham borough council's leader Peter Nutting made claims to a local paper that suggested that his council had been treated unfairly in the formation of the partnership.
However, speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday, the county council, which is currently procuring a long-term waste PFI contract for Shropshire, said that it spent several years trying to get Shrewsbury & Atcham onboard.
Councillor John Hurst-Knight, Shropshire county council's cabinet member for waste, said: “I am very disappointed about the misleading statements recently made by SABC. The members of the Shropshire Waste Partnership have been working closely for some seven years now, and we have spent the first several years of that trying to persuade SABC to get fully engaged.”
He added: “The door has, throughout this time, been left open to them provided there are benefits to both parties. I would like to reiterate that we feel it is extremely important that SABC joins the partnership in the near future to help boost its performance, and the performance of the county as a whole.”
Partnership
The Shropshire Waste Partnership – made up of Shropshire county council, Oswestry borough council, North Shropshire district council, South Shropshire district council and Bridgnorth district council – says that if Shrewesbury joined the partnership it would make it easier to co-ordinate county-wide waste collections and communications.
The partnership has one of the only legally binding agreements of its kind in the UK, and has its own constitution and board of directors.
James Thompson, recycling officer at SABC, explained that despite making claims of being treated unfairly, councillors in his borough did not feel joining the waste partnership would provide the best value for its council taxpayers.
He said: “We were concerned about the contractual risks of entering into a 25-year PFI contract and concerned that collection services would be integrated. We are the most cost-effective collection authority in Shropshire, whereas others are very expensive, costing up to twice as much for collections per household as it is a very rural.
“Joining the partnership would also make us legally responsible for meeting Shropshire's targets under the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme.”
Mr Thompson added: “We agreed we would constantly keep the situation under review and we already work together as Shropshire county council is our waste disposal authority.”
Unitary
The Shrewsbury & Atcham recycling officer stressed that the dispute over the Shropshire Waste Partnership could soon become irrelevant, since Shropshire was currently waiting to hear back about a bid for unitary status. If it does receive unitary status, the whole county would become responsible for both waste disposal and collection.
Mr Thompson said: “Shropshire council has put in a bid for unitary status and it is being assessed at the moment. SABC are against it but if it is accepted by Ruth Kelly it would mean services would be integrated anyway. A decision is expected soon.”
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PFI
The Shropshire Waste Partnership is expected to announce whether either Veolia or Biffa is to be preferred bidder for its 25-year waste disposal contract by mid May, with a view to the contract starting in October.
The deal, which has received 36 million in government credits through the Private Finance Initiative, will be worth around 650 million.
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