£100,000 saved as Council takes back control of street cleaning

South Norfolk Council has saved £100,000 by taking control of street cleaning from commercial contractors. Its Cabinet made the decision after advertising across Europe for bidders. The nearest credible commercial bidders were £100,000 and £200,000 more expensive than the council’s own benchmark.

It brings to an end ten years of out-sourcing street cleaning for the district’s 115,000 residents.

The new in-house service means more vehicles and staff on street cleaning duty, more resources to fight fly-tipping crime, and new equipment to tackle anti-social behaviour like graffiti vandalism. It was this, as well as the saving, which swung the Cabinet decision.

Councillor Philip Waltham, who leads for the council on the environment said:

“Once again South Norfolk Council is in the forefront for residents’ care. “In this case, careful investigation by Environmental Service officers has resulted in a decision that will save ratepayers just over £100,000, which is the equivalent to 2% on the Council Tax for each tax payer.

“In addition to the financial saving, our in-house service will offer considerable advantages over the commercial services because it is designed for local conditions especially in the rural areas of South Norfolk.

“It was this level of service that swung the final decision and led us to consider setting up our own in-house service with a good saving as a bonus for all our residents.”

Mr Kelly Lunness is the Council’s Assistant Direct Services Manager. He oversees the current commercial service, evaluated the bids and will lead the new in-house team.

Mr Lunness said:

"South Norfolk is already a clean area to live in and we want to keep it that way. An in-house team will give us the flexibility to meet the changing challenges of an ever developing district and to the high standard that our residents expect of us."

The council’s current commercial contractor has 5 vans, 1 mechanical road sweeper and 12 staff.

From 1 July, the South Norfolk Council service will have 15 staff, 7 vans, 2 mechanical road sweepers and 1 specialist fly tipping collection lorry. There will also be a graffiti removal power washer, and 2 walk-behind sweeping machines.

Councillor Waltham said councillors and officers were “astounded” by the gap between what the council could offer in service and costs, and what was being offered by private bidders. He said:

“We made a very careful estimate of just what it would cost if we undertook the work in order to calculate what the cost of a private contract should be.

“The preparation of this estimate involved a great deal of very hard work and took a number of months.

“We were astounded when the final figure, which was established before the contract tenders were received, turned out to be just over £100,000 below the nearest commercial bid.

“I want to congratulate all who were involved but especially those who did the work of establishing just what the council could do.

“We look forward to many more deals like this and a strengthened service at reduced costs for the people of South Norfolk who are once again in a winning situation.”

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