Agenda item

With the agreement of the Chair, this item was moved from private to public session (apart from appendices B and C which remained exempt under Paragraphs 13, 14 and 15).

Decisions:

1.           That further to the completed consultations, the previous in principle decision to convert the Materials Recovery and Energy Centre (MREC) to a transfer station with enhanced recycling capability, be confirmed;

2.           That a revised structure in respect of staff to implement a transfer station, with enhanced recycling capability, be presented to Personnel Committee for decision, and that appropriate notices of change and/or redundancy be provided as deemed appropriate by the Personnel Committee (with any new roles being subject to Local Government Terms and Conditions);

3.           That the capital requirements and approval of the allocation of £5.55M including contingency in the council’s capital programme, be noted;

4.           That delegated authority be granted to the Head of Streetcare to vary the environmental permit in line with the service change;

5.           That delegated authority be granted to the Head of Streetcare and the Head of Legal Services to undertake a procurement exercise for an up to five year residual waste treatment contract, and to enter into any arrangements as may be appropriate to facilitate this procurement exercise and award a contract to the highest scoring tenderer;

6.           That the Head of Streetcare investigate the feasibility and benefit of relocating the Council’s refuse and recycling collection fleets to the Transfer Station, and reports the findings to Members accordingly for further decision.

Reason for Decisions:

To determine the future of the MREC further to changes previously agreed in principle and subject to consultation. The direction of travel for residual waste will continue on a downward trend whilst reuse and recycling etc. will continue to increase. Existing service arrangements will therefore become increasingly misaligned with the developing waste management context should changes not be made.

Implementation of Decisions:

The decisions will be implemented after the three day call in period.

Consultation:

This item has been subject to consultation with staff.