Purpose

The Portfolio Holder for Operations will be
asked to approve capital expenditure in support of the procurement
of containers to meet new statutory requirements for a kerbside
food waste service, as part of the Government’s
‘Simpler Recycling’ requirements.
 
Given the urgency to process the procurement
of the food waste containers, it has not been possible to provide
28 days’ notice for reporting the intended Key Decision and
the potential for the matter being considered in private
session.
 
Under the Access to Information Procedure
Rules of the Council’s Constitution, paragraphs 16.1 and
17.2, which requires that where the normal procedure cannot be
followed in respect of the consideration of Key Decisions and
matters being taken in private, agreement is to be sought from the
Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as to why the matter
cannot be reasonably be deferred.  This
has been undertaken accordingly.
 
In addition, due to the need to process the
procurement of the containers promptly, under the Scrutiny
Committees Procedure Rules of the Council’s Constitution
(Overview and Scrutiny Committee) paragraph 14.4, with the
agreement of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the
call-in procedure for this item has been suspended.  The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee
is satisfied that the decision proposed is reasonable in all the
circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency.

Decision

The Portfolio Holder for Operations has taken
the decision not to proceed with the capital investment opportunity
in injection moulding tooling of the food waste containers with the
proposed manufacturer.  Therefore, the
Council will procure the food waste containers in the usual way to
meet the Government’s deadline for food waste collections
from April 2026.