Decision Maker: Cabinet

Outcome: Decision approved

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: May 6, 2025

Purpose: The Environment Act 2021 requires all local authorities to implement weekly collections of food waste from all households by 1st April 2026.   This report seeks approval for the release of capital funding grant received from DEFRA in 2024. The grant has been awarded to the Council to fund capital elements of the mandated Food Waste Service. Recommendations in this report detail the level of service and associated costs to deliver the food waste service with options of gold, silver or bronze to be chosen.   Further, this decision report seeks approval to procure the items required to deliver this service, delegating authority for the approval to award the contracts to the Corporate Director of Environment and Sustainable Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education.

Content: Decision   For the reasons set out in the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree to:   i)  Agree the release of capital funding grant of £2.07m received from DEFRA in 2024 to be used for the delivery of a Weekly Food Waste Service. ii)  Accept the grant of £642k from DEFRA to cover the transitional revenue costs including project management, container delivery, communication and costs to procure items required. iii)  Approve the procurement of DEFRA funded items only of internal and external caddies and basic communal food waste bins with aperture opening at an estimated cost of £907,732 including a tolerance of 10%, not exceeding £998,800 to be procured through a procurement framework directly. iv)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Environment and Sustainable Transport, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children Services and Education to finalise the details and commence the procurement of the goods to deliver the service under 2.3 above; and award the necessary contracts and agreements. v)  Note that once the additional revenue funding is received in Spring/Summer 2025 a further update will be provided to Cabinet.   Alternatives Considered   a)  Do nothing. Do not allow release of funding received from Central Government to procure the food waste bins and caddies; this will have an impact on complying with the Environment Act 2021 and penalties and or further enforcement action may be undertaken by central government. Further there is a risk of reputational damage including and not limited to failing to meet the Councils own local targets and national climate emergency targets. b)  Delay the decision. As Newham are yet to be notified of their revenue costs, delaying the future decision of the food waste service has been considered. This has been discounted as a delay would impact the delivery timelines and potentially the costs due to the supply and demand of these items. A large proportion of Local Authorities will be looking to procure all food waste service items over the coming months, prices are likely to increase and demand may outstrip supply, which may result in no residential food waste service being possible by 1 st April 2026. c)  Purchase items for the service level: Silver The Silver options includes internal and external caddies, basic communal food waste bins and a limited number of food housing units and a reduced number of caddy liners with a roll of 10 for a 3-5 week period. Providing both of these additional items will increase participation. This has been discounted due to available funding. d)  Purchase items for the service level: Gold The ‘Gold’ option would ensure that residents have an adequate number of caddy liners for 3-6 months and all blocks that have the space for one, have access to a communal food waste bins with bin housings which will include a pedal. The greater the number residents that participate in the service the more food waste will be removed from the residual waste stream. If waste is removed from the residual waste stream, then a saving will be generated through the new ELWA contract, recycling waste including food waste, will cost less than residual waste. Purchasing items at the ‘Gold’ level removes as many barriers as possible to ensure a greater level of resident participation. This has been discounted due to available funding. e)  Alternative procurement routes have been explored. The Council has explored options in consultation with Newham’s Procurement Lead and WRAP to understand if joint procurement with the other East London Waste Authority Boroughs would be advantageous for one or more of the items required to deliver a food waste service either through shared resources or a reduction in cost. The usual procurement route would be direct procurement through one of the procurement frameworks such as ESPO or YPO. These provide a reliable, fixed cost solution that Newham have successfully used in the past to deliver Public Realm requirements. The option to jointly procure has been discounted as there would be no benefit to the Council when compared to procuring directly via a framework.