Issue - meetings
Waste Fleet Purchase
Meeting: 04/12/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 73)
73 Waste Fleet Purchase Delegation 
PDF 105 KB
Purpose:
To consider the proposal outlined in the report to procure new waste fleet vehicles and the associated infrastructure for any electric vehicles.
Recommendations:
That the Committee resolves to:
1. Note the decision by the Executive on 9 October 2024 to: Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for Commercial Development, in consultation with the Executive Members for Environment and Finance, and the Director of Finance, to purchase or lease up to 2 x full size HGV’s and up to 4 food waste vehicles and necessary charging infrastructure up to an estimated cost of £2.8M, (including a procurement contingency and estimated cost of borrowing).
2. Agree any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 11 December 2024.
Invited:
Councillor Lidia Arciszewska – Executive Member for Environment
Bill Oddy – Assistant Director, Commercial Development
Simon Anthony – Business Manager, Environmental Services
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Simon Anthony, Business Manager for Environmental Services, presented the report that was to consider the proposal outlined in the report to procure new waste fleet vehicles and the associated infrastructure for any electric vehicles.
The waste service had thirty-five frontline collection vehicles with most of these approaching the end of their life. The paper asked the Executive to consider the purchase of four vehicles and to delegate the purchase or lease of a further six vehicles. This would make the procurement of the vehicles smoother and would allow for better management of the Council’s Capital Programme.
Without reliable replacements, the vehicles, and therefore the service, would become unstable and could result in service disruption and additional costs relating to repairs and maintenance. Waste was the only Council provided service that most residents use each week so having an unreliable vehicle fleet would have a significant impact on residents and could lead to reputational damage.
A Member/Officer Steering Group met on 17 July and determined that the following vehicles were due for renewal:
· 4 x Food Waste Vehicles 7.5te and retain one of the existing fleet as a spare;
· 1 x 7.5te vehicle with bin lift for ultra narrow access collections;
· 2 x 26te vehicles used across both refuse and garden waste collections;
· 3 x supervisor vans.
The depots would also require substantial upgrades to accommodate the capacity for the EVs and the costs of those were outlined to Members.
The following points and suggestions were noted by the Committee:
· As the report had already gone through to Executive, the report was presented to enable full transparency of the delegation of the decision.
· The depot had a fully green tariff and solar panels or renewable energies would be an ideal situation; however, there was limited and restrictive grant funding. The Council would need to decide how far it could go with EV usage in future.
· The procurement would begin in the new year and depending on the vehicle, it would be a six-nine month lead time to receiving the vehicle. All vehicles would be owned by the Council and leased to Ubico, which was standard practice. Hydrogen was not currently being considered as an alternative; however, it could be considered in future if available.
· Supervisors checked missed bins, processed container returns and managed the crews which made them an essential part of the service.
· Members welcomed the phased purchases proposed in the report and commented that it made sense for these decisions to be delegated.
· It was felt that availability of the narrow vehicle was critical and most of the missed bins currently were due to lack of these; Officers confirmed that this was the key focus of the current dashboard.
· Savings were forecast from the tariff information and best available information suggested they were currently marginal.
· New regulations from central government were still be worked out and the vehicles in the report would be needed in all scenarios and a report would come back to Members on Waste Strategy at ... view the full minutes text for item 73
Meeting: 09/10/2024 - Executive (Item 240)
240 Waste Fleet Purchase PDF 102 KB
Purpose:
To seek approval to procure ten new waste fleet vehicles and the associated infrastructure for any electric vehicles.
Recommendations:
That the Executive resolves to:
1. Agree to the purchase of 3 fully electric supervisor vehicles;
2. Agree to the purchase 1 standard fuel ultra-narrow access vehicle;
3. Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for Commercial Development, in consultation with the Executive Members for Environment and Finance, and the Director of Finance, to purchase or lease up to 2 x full size HGV’s and up to 4 food waste vehicles and necessary charging infrastructure up to an estimated cost of £2.8M, (including a procurement contingency and estimated cost of borrowing).
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, introduced the report, in the absence of Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment. The report sought approval to procure ten new waste fleet vehicles and the associated infrastructure for any electric vehicles.
It was outlined that the waste service had thirty-five frontline collection vehicles with most of these approaching the end of their life. It was suggested that the Executive consider the purchase of four vehicles and to delegate responsibility for the purchase or lease of a further six vehicles. This would make the procurement of the vehicles smoother and will allow for better management of the Council’s Capital Programme.
It was explained that without reliable replacements, the vehicles, and therefore the service, would become unstable and could result in service disruption and additional costs relating to repairs and maintenance. Waste was the only council provided service that most residents used each week, so having an unreliable vehicle fleet would lead to reputational damage and could lead to significant impacts on residents.
A Member/Officer Steering Group met on 17 July 2024 and determined that the following vehicles were due for renewal:
- 4 x Food Waste Vehicles 7.5te and retain one of the existing fleet as a spare;
- 1 x 7.5te vehicle with bin lift for ultra narrow access collections;
- 2 x 26te vehicles used across both refuse and garden waste collections;
- 3 x supervisor vans
In debate, Councillor Michele Mead requested that the report go to Overview and Scrutiny and it was agreed that there was time for it to go to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Recommendations 1 and 2 could go ahead as planned and recommendation 3 would be agreed in principal but it was suggested that proposed procurements under the delegated authority would be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration. It was confirmed that the Council would be the first in the area that would operate a fully-electric food waste service.
Councillor Alaric Smith proposed that the Executive agree the recommendations as listed on the original report. This was seconded by Councillor Andrew Prosser, was put to a vote, and was unanimously agreed by the Executive.
The Executive Resolved to:
1. Agree to the purchase of 3 fully electric supervisor vehicles;
2. Agree to the purchase 1 standard fuel ultra-narrow access vehicle;
3. Delegate authority to the Assistant Director for Commercial Development, in consultation with the Executive Members for Environment and Finance, and the Director of Finance, to purchase or lease up to 2 x full size HGV’s and up to 4 food waste vehicles and necessary charging infrastructure up to an estimated cost of £2.8M, (including a procurement contingency and estimated cost of borrowing), on the understanding that proposals under this delegation will be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.