£270k spent on experts
Opponents have slammed council officials after it was revealed they had spent more than £270,000 on consultancy contracts related to its new waste collection scheme.
The information is laid out on the Public Contracts Scotland website, which outlines the six different contracts to provide various services related to the rollout of the controversial plans, approved by councillors last month.
Among the services put out for tender in the six lots include the provision of “communications consultancy support” for the new kerbside collection changes and also for consultants to draw up an appraisal of various options for the changes, with the council admitting it possessed a“knowledge gap”.
The awards for the six contracts add up to a total of £279,000 to various companies, with the information over the successful awards being published on July 2 - just a few days after a full meeting of Stirling Council gave the changes the green light on June 30.
That has led an opposition councillor to question the timing of the procurement process, with the initial contract notice for the six lots being first outlined on February 28, with the deadline set for April 1.
Trossachs and Teith councillor Martin Earl said:“just after the cuts and charges to bin collections was pushed through, we find out that the council is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on yet more professional consultants to do a range of work including reviewing the collection service.
“They are to look at options after decisions have been made. This adds more questions to the growing list that this woeful saga keeps producing.
“These changes need to be stopped, the huge outcry from across the council area listened to and serious questions answered.”
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “The framework contract in question covers a range of requirements that have been identified within the council’s waste service. The maximum total value of the framework contract is £228,000, but no spend is guaranteed at this stage.
“The framework is split into six‘lots’ and the majority of these are for existing requirements that are unrelated to the changes to the household waste collection. Lot 4 of the framework does allow the service to draw upon external specialists in the waste sector to ensure residents will be fully supported in the event of proposed changes to household collections.
“If, however, in this case Stirling Council elected members had voted against the changes to the household waste collection service on June 30, there would have been no requirement for the council to utilise lot 4. Essentially, the inclusion of this lot allows the council to respond quickly as and when any potential projects are approved.”
■A framework agreement is‘an agreement between one or more contracting authorities and one or more economic operators to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period.
■ Lots are individual or combined lists of services and goods.