The Mayor noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and Officer response. He also noted and agreed the reasons for urgency set out in the report.

DECISION

1.    To authorise the Acting Corporate Director of Place to cease the dialogue for the external procurement of an integrated waste, recycling and cleansing contract  currently in progress, due to be implemented for April 2020 and allow for the current contract to expire.

2.    To authorise the Acting Corporate Director of Place to create an In-house service for the integrated delivery of waste, recycling and cleansing functions within Tower Hamlets, to commence from 1^st April 2020.

3.    To agree to delegate to the Acting Corporate Director of Place, authority to negotiate and agree an exit strategy with Veolia that would enable all or some of the services to be brought back In-house earlier than 31st March 2020, as and when required.

4.    To approve the timescales for delivery and the resource allocations required to commence the delivery of a new In-house Waste Service and delegate to the Acting  Corporate Director of Place, the authority to develop working strategy with the external organisations where required, to support the process.

5.    To approve one off funding up to £2.5M from reserves for pre-implementation funding which will incorporate financing the creation of a mobilisation team which will oversee the development and implementation of the new In-house service.

6.    To approve a capital investment of £10M for the purchase of a new fleet and a further £0.325M for the implementation of new IT systems.

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Interim Divisional Director, Public Realm (R. Payne)

Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Environment, introduced the report. He explained that the existing contract was approaching its end and that a decision needed to be taken on the future of the service. He noted a number of issues with the current service, financial analysis of the options and benchmarking with the London Borough of Hackney and reported that the benefits of taking the service in-house was seen as greater than procuring from the wider market.

Councillor Andrew Wood, Leader of the Conservative Group, stated his group were not against the proposals in principle but questioned whether the Council was ready to take this action by 2020. He also stressed the importance of gaining buy-in from the staff who currently run the service.

The Mayor welcomed the report. He highlighted he had desire to reduce the terms and conditions of staff but that there would need to be detailed conversations on the transfer of staff. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and Officer response. He also noted and agreed the reasons for urgency set out in the report. Finally he agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To authorise the Acting Corporate Director of Place to cease the dialogue for the external procurement of an integrated waste, recycling and cleansing contract  currently in progress, due to be implemented for April 2020 and allow for the current contract to expire.

2.    To authorise the Acting Corporate Director of Place to create an In-house service for the integrated delivery of waste, recycling and cleansing functions within Tower Hamlets, to commence from 1^st April 2020.

3.    To agree to delegate to the Acting Corporate Director of Place, authority to negotiate and agree an exit strategy with Veolia that would enable all or some of the services to be brought back In-house earlier than 31st March 2020, as and when required.

4.    To approve the timescales for delivery and the resource allocations required to commence the delivery of a new In-house Waste Service and delegate to the Acting  Corporate Director of Place, the authority to develop working strategy with the external organisations where required, to support the process.

5.    To approve one off funding up to £2.5M from reserves for pre-implementation funding which will incorporate financing the creation of a mobilisation team which will oversee the development and implementation of the new In-house service.

6.    To approve a capital investment of £10M for the purchase of a new fleet and a further £0.325M for the implementation of new IT systems.