Councillor Bernie Mooney introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment which stated that, on 7^th November, 2013, Cabinet approved Wirral Council join an existing green waste composting contract between April and October 2014, currently let by Sefton Council. 

This enabled Wirral Council to take part in a collaborative procurement exercise with all other Merseyside districts (Minute 95 refers).  At that time, Members requested Officers to report back to Cabinet on the outcome of exploring an in-house option.  These requests pre-date the revision of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules that came into force December 2013. 

The report detailed the outcome of that procurement exercise and recommended Members accept the preferred bidder tender.  It also concluded that an in-house option to compost our own garden waste was not viable at this time.  The value of the tender to Wirral over the two year core contract period is approximately £600k (depending on tonnage variations).  Accepting the preferred bidder would ensure that Wirral enjoys the “economies of scale” of a large contract and limits the impact of increased processing costs that this industry has experienced over recent years.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Strategic Director of Regeneration and Environment be requested to liaise with Sefton Council’s Director of Streetscene and conclude the procurement exercise with the intent of entering into contract with the preferred bidder for the period of 2 years, plus 3 x one-year extension options, commencing 1^st November 2014;

(2)  the revenue saving of £22.5k from 2014/15 reflecting the surplus funds arising from this procurement exercise; and

(3)  the future possibility to carry out the composting process in-house as outlined in Section 5.1 of the report and requests that the commercial viability of operating a windrow composting facility be explored within the lifetime of the new contract be noted.