Roger Edwards described the comments made by Steve Munby – Liverpool’s cabinet member for Neighbourhoods – as ‘utter nonsense’ and ‘political rhetoric without foundation’.
The contractor currently carries out collections under an extended contract with Liverpool’s neighbouring authority Wirral borough council, not due to expire until 2027 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Councillor Munby made the accusation in an interview with letsrecycle.com on Liverpool’s decision to end its relationship with private contractor Amey and move its waste and recycling services in-house.
Asked whether councils should consider making their own arrangements to handle waste, the councillor argued the mood to outsource public services was a hangover from the 1980s and did little to increase competition or provide capital investment.
In response, Mr Edwards said tenders ‘have never been more stringently evaluated’ and argued the private sector had shouldered much of the financial impact of the crash in commodity markets.
He said: “If the private sector does not deliver the required service standards and brings extra costs, can Mr Munby explain why many of our local authority clients last year awarded Biffa around £300 million-worth of contract extensions? They wouldn’t have done so if we delivered a mediocre service and unacceptable cost.”
ESA
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) has also entered the fray, branding the councillor’s comments as ‘out of tune with reality’.
The ESA argues competitive tender processes are needed to ‘drive efficiencies’ in waste service delivery – as well as keep costs down for local authorities.
An ESA spokeswoman said: “Councillor Munby’s comments are unfortunately not in tune with the reality of the benefits that competition brings to local authorities across the country.
“It is precisely during these difficult financial times that councils should be looking towards outsourcing. The local authority sector has done a great job at finding efficiencies in waste services, most often in partnership with the private sector, but there is still much more which will need to be done in the face of ongoing cuts to local government budgets.”
ESA added: “Private sector contractors can bring the expertise to find efficiencies in the near term, while periodic competitive tenders are the best solution for keeping costs down in the longer term.”
Amey
Commenting on the end of its joint venture with Liverpool city council yesterday, Amey claimed it made the decision not to extend the collection service – despite previous reports that it had been a ‘mutually agreed’.
An Amey spokeswoman said: “In November 2014, Amey took the decision not to extend the waste collection and recycling service with Liverpool City Council beyond the contract end date of November 2015.”
“We are proud of our work in the city, having invested over £1million in our National Shared Service Centre at the Matchworks in the Speke area of the city, creating 300 new jobs since 2013.”
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