East Cambridgeshire District Council is set to take control of household waste collections and street cleaning when its contract with Veolia ends next April, it has been announced today (Tuesday 14th March).

Services will, in future, be provided by the Council’s trading arm, East Cambridgeshire Trading Company (ECTC) rather than through a further commercial contract.

The decision was approved at last month’s Full Council meeting (23rd February), after completion of a review of the options available. Residents should notice little difference as there are no current plans to change services but cost savings and improvements to service delivery are expected as a result of having direct control.

Jo Brooks, Director of Operations at East Cambridgeshire District Council said: “This decision has had very strong support from councillors and has been researched thoroughly to ensure it is the best option for both East Cambridgeshire District Council and for our residents.

“Transferring the service to The Trading Company will directly reduce the amount of money the Council spends on waste whilst not reducing the level of service for local people. It will also enable the service to be more flexible to future change. The Trading Company is also committed to achieving the council’s recycling target of 60%.”

Councillor Julia Huffer, Waste Champion for East Cambridgeshire District Council said: `We have spent a lot of time looking at options beyond the end of Veolia’s contract. We believe that direct provision of services is definitely the way ahead. It will give us greater control over services and flexibility to make future improvements. We will no longer be paying a contractor’s profit margin and will be able to reinvest savings to provide better services for local residents.’

Anna Bailey, Chairman of the Regulatory and Support Services added: “East Cambridgeshire District Council is committed to being financially secure and stable, keeping a balanced budget and not passing on unnecessary costs to our local residents.

“This is another initiative through which we have demonstrated our commitment to ensuring taxpayers money is being spent in the most efficient and effective ways and the outcome will mean a better service for local people.”

As well as saving money on the contract, the move also removes the cost of the required EU procurement process for tendering for a new service delivery provider – an additional saving of around £250,000.

The next 12 months will form a handover period where all staff from Veolia will be transferred across to the Trading Company through TUPE.