 |
PRESS RELEASE |
|
NEW WASTE CONTRACT HAILED Wirral Council's new waste contract has been shown to be a great success - and that's official. A Government-appointed Review Team has given Wirral's Department of Technical Services an excellent report on its new bins collection service. Councillor Jean Quinn , Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Transport Services, extended congratulations to the Director of Technical Services and all involved. She said, “The review showed the procurement exercise to be a great success. The external assessors spoke very highly of Wirral and said we should be an exemplar for the rest of the country. “I'm also pleased that the Review clearly showed the benefits we've achieved, particularly around bin collections, the call centre, and recycling rates. “Last year when Liberal Democrats took over this portfolio from the Conservatives, bin collections were in a mess, the call centre was overstretched, and recycling rates were running at around 14%. “The review confirms that these problems have now been tackled. Recycling rates have increased dramatically to 34% - from 14% last year. We're now the best on Merseyside. “Flats and schools (special grey bins in the classroom) will soon be receiving better recycling facilities which will boost our rate further. “Bin collections are far more reliable, helped by the introduction of Bank Holiday collections, and the Streetscene call centre performance has now improved.” A paper presented to Cabinet this week reported the conclusions of the Review Team: • The contract delivers everything that the Council planned. • There is commitment to continuous improvement. • There is an openness to “lessons learnt” and a willingness to change. • There is enthusiasm and a real passion to develop the service. The review process has been so successful in supporting and driving change for the future that it will now be used for other projects that the Technical Services Department will be undertaking. The process - called a ‘Gateway Review' - examines a project at critical stages in its life cycle to provide assurance that it can progress successfully to the next stage. A group of external assessors, appointed by the Office of Government Commerce to assist Government departments assess and deliver best value for money, interviewed everyone involved in developing the new waste contract on a regular basis while it was negotiated and put into action. Click here for the full Report to 23 January Cabinet (PDF file) |