Issue - meetings

RESOLVED: That

1.  The Mid Kent Waste Contract is awarded to Bidder A;

2.  The Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement is given the delegated authority to issue a Letter of Intent to Bidder A to enable contract mobilisation to commence; and

3.  £5.8 million capital funding is allocated for the purchase of Maidstone’s waste collection fleet.

See Record of Decision

The Lead Member for Environmental Services introduced the report and explained in March 2021 the Communities, Housing and Environment Committee agreed to remain within the Mid Kent Waste Partnership (MKWP), alongside Ashford and Swale Borough Councils. The Mid Kent Waste Collection Contract had been tendered and one bid had been received.

The Committee were informed that the bid had been considered against the evaluation criteria agreed by the MKWP, scoring 81.88 out of 100. The service proposed would allow for the collection of food waste, refuse and recycling within the same vehicle at an increased payload to the vehicles currently used. Additionally, narrow access resources for garden waste would be provided to provide reliability and resilience to the service. The bidder had developed a partnership with Demelza Hospice Care to enable the reuse of bulky items where possible

The bid included the provision of improved vehicle tracking technology and improved management of customer services requests, to allow the waste team to have full visibility of the service’s provision. Electric supervisor vans would be provided, with local sustainability champions and initiatives to be implemented at each depot. The other initiatives to be provided were outlined, to include the extension the ‘Go Green’ initiative, skills and mental health training sessions, community and school events and internships, amongst other things. 

It was proposed that the Council would allocate £5.8 million towards the fleet costs, to reduce the service’s overall cost, based on the tender price and provision of an in-built contingency fund.

RESOLVED: That the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business because of the likely disclosure of exempt information for the reason specified, having applied the Public Interest Test:

Head of Schedule 12A and Brief Description

Exempt Appendix 2 to Item 15 Mid Kent     3 –

Waste Collection Contract  Financial/Business     Affairs

The Committee entered into closed session between 7.01 p.m. to 7.10 p.m. and asked questions on the proposal’s finances, including across future years of the contract’s life.

The Committee expressed support for the proposal. 

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to;

1.  Award the Mid Kent Waste Contract Bidder A;

2.  Give delegated authority to the Director of Finance, Resources and Business Improvement to issue a Letter of Intent to Bidder A to enable contract mobilisation to commence; and

3.  Allocate £5.8 million capital funding is allocated for the purchase of Maidstone’s waste collection fleet.