Decision details

Cabinet considered the report and RESOLVED (unanimous) to:

1.    Note that the Cabinet Member for Waste and Street Scene, together with the Service Director of Environment and Economy are investigating the establishment of a Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo) for services currently performed under the EMS contract by Amey.

2.    Note the arrangements in place for these services as set out in paragraph 4.4 of the report would be paused whilst such an investigation takes place.

3.    Be kept updated on the progress of this investigation.

The report sought approval to further investigate service delivery options following the 2017/18 budget decision to terminate the current EMS contract as the contract was no longer fit for purpose. Exploration of this option was considered necessary in order to ensure that the Council had considered all options for a better service delivery.

These had previously been considered by Cabinet:

·         Continuing with the existing contract - Amey had advised that they were not willing to carry on with the existing contract at the current value, which both parties have acknowledged was no longer fit for purpose.

·         Transfer the majority of services into a Joint Venture company with the NorseGroup - It was originally proposed that the Council would transfer services in the EMS contract to a new joint venture company with Norse Commercial Services. However, given the scope of services and in the absence of a procurement process it has not been possible to demonstrate that this represents the best value for money for the Council or that such a solution would be affordable.

·         Bring services back in house - The report detailed that the in house option was highly unlikely to be an affordable option.

·         Retender in separate packaged contracts