Councillor calls for county’s controversial £82m waste contract to be scrutinised
A BRIDGEND county councillor is calling for the local authority’s controversial waste contract to be scrutinised one year after it started.
Bridgend County Borough Council took out the £82m seven-year contract with private contractor Kier last June.
Speaking at a council meeting on Tuesday, June 12, councillor Matthew Voisey called the company’s methodology “abysmal” and requested further details on the contract – asking if there was an option to terminate it.
At the time of implementation the new service was described as causing “chaos” with large numbers of missed collections which led to waste, including bags of nappies, sitting on kerbsides for weeks.
Householders are limited to two rubbish bags per fortnight and there are different-coloured sacks for cardboard, paper, and plastics as well as caddies for glass and food and purple bags for nappies.
But the new approach to waste collection has resulted in the county borough’s annual recycling rate soaring from 58% in 2016-17 to 68.5% for 2017-18.
Discussing the council’s forward work programme at an overview and scrutiny committee meeting, Cllr Voisey said: “I would like to see some form of scrutiny over the contract of the past year for Kier.
“It’s clearly not still performing – the results are there but the methodology in getting there is abysmal.
“I would like to look at options we have to terminate the contract if that is an option and what the implications are.”
He also asked for future contracts with firms to involve clauses which would oblige companies to attend the scrutiny committee.
A Kier spokesman said: “Over the last year Kier has successfully worked with Bridgend County Borough Council to meet and exceed the Welsh Government’s recycling targets.
“There has been a 31% increase in recycled plastics and metals as well as 35% more recycled food waste and 43% more garden waste.
“The partnership is working well together and is on track to become one of the highest-performing areas in the UK.”