Agenda item

RESOLVED: That Cabinet;

a)    Approved the recommendation to commence procurement for a new contract for mixed recycling.

b)    Agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Director for Place, Economy and Environment in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste Services, and the Executive Director for Finance to

              i.        take decisions related to the procurement process, to enable it to progress as planned; and

            ii.        award the contract, (provided the procurement reaches a satisfactory conclusion).

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         To ensure the Council has secure outlets at a competitive price for the dry mixed recyclable material it collects at the kerbside from residents, which will enable statutory recycling services to continue without disruption.

·         To ensure a compliant procurement process is commenced with a view to a new contract being awarded at the completion of the process and that the new contract is awarded as soon as possible to minimise the Council’s exposure to ‘spot prices’ (6.10).

·         To ensure value for money for these arrangements.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

Option 1 - Interim Contract for the Daventry Area from June 2023 – Feb 2024

·         The Daventry area contract expires before the South area contract, and officers have considered whether to enter an interim arrangement for the Daventry area to cover the period between June 2023 and February 2024. However, initial investigation of this option indicates a temporary arrangement is likely to be subject to a high price per tonne because there is no guarantee for a long-term contract for the contractor.

·         The total value of this interim contract would be less than the procurement regulation threshold because of its short duration. This would simplify the initial procurement process. However, a second procurement for a new contract commencing in February 2024 for DMR from the Daventry and South areas would still be necessary.

Option 2 – New Contract, phasing in DMR from Geographic Areas, commencing June 2023

·         The alternative option is for the current arrangements to be combined into a single new contract, with separate lots, in phased start dates from June 2023 for Daventry area DMR and February 2024 for South area DMR.

·         The length of the new contract is still to be determined. However, if the length of the new contract is beyond June 2028, it may also be possible for DMR from the Northampton area to be included, which may provide further economies of scale.

·         Soft market testing with contractors interested in providing this service for WNC commenced in January 2023 to gain intelligence on current market prices, length of contract, level of risk that contractors are prepared to enter related to price, capacity within the MRFs and other factors that will affect the contract. This information will enable WNC to tailor the contract specification, contract.

·         A proposed procurement timetable is provided in Appendix 1. Due to the value of this contract (which is over the regulation threshold) the procurement process must follow the full regulations of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The procurement timescales are short and this is the main reason why delegated authority to award the contract is recommended, to enable award of the contract on the shortest possible timescale.

·         The reason the procurement timescales are short is that the price review for the Daventry arrangement was not triggered until 6 months before the 3 June review date. Officers had anticipated the price review and considered options in advance, but it was not until early January that it became clear that an interim arrangement was unlikely to offer WNC the most competitive price.

·         The two incumbent contractors have indicated that they could provide a short-term price for the Daventry area if this option 2 is pursued. If this procurement process does not result in a new contract which can commence in June 2023, then it may be necessary for WNC to continue to use its current arrangements on a temporary basis. However, as noted earlier this would be at new ‘spot rates’ and not under the current terms.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Larratt presented the report and summarised the salient points.  At present there were several contracts for collection and sorting of mixed recycling across WNC.  The Daventry contract was due to end in June 2023 and South Northamptonshire in February 2024.  The prices quoted for a temporary arrangement were prohibitive so it was proposed to tender for a WNC contract in several stages.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet;

a)    Approved the recommendation to commence procurement for a new contract for mixed recycling.

b)    Agreed to delegate authority to the Executive Director for Place, Economy and Environment in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste Services, and the Executive Director for Finance to

              i.        take decisions related to the procurement process, to enable it to progress as planned; and

            ii.        award the contract, (provided the procurement reaches a satisfactory conclusion).