Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor David Harvey ( Councillor Mark Booty substituting) and Councillor David Dodds (Councillor Dorothy Brown substituting).

The Joint Committee is RECOMMENDED that the public be excluded for the duration of item 5 in the Agenda since it is likely that if they were present during this item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified in relation to the respective item in the Agenda and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:            to agree that the public be excluded for the duration of item 5 in the Agenda since it is likely that if they were present during this item there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and specified in relation to the respective item in the Agenda and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

At the last meeting on 24 June 2011 the Partnerships considered a report (which is attached at OWP5(b) as a means of background information) that gave an update on the tendering of the Environmental Education Services funded by Oxfordshire Waste Partnership and Oxfordshire County Council.

During the discussion a member of the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership queried the funding of the Wild Waste Bus for a further two years, in accordance with the proposed contract, when discussion at a former meeting had indicated that there was a wish to fund it for one further year only. Mr Lewis had responded that there were no plans to offer a bus as part of the new contract. However, this was a timely opportunity to assess the costs of a service against the benefits of jointly procuring the ‘Energy Bus’.

Following further discussion, the Environment Partnership and the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership decided as follows: to

(a)   note progress to date;

(b)   authorise Oxfordshire County Council to continue with the procurement;

(c)   call a special meeting in September 2011 to consider the returned tenders and reach a decision on the contract award; and

(d)   to ensure that the Energy aspects of the service can be procured independently of the Waste Management Service if needs be.

The purpose of the attached report (OWP5(a)) is to explain the procurement process undertaken, the outcome of the tender evaluation and to seek authorisation to award the Environmental Education Service Contract.

Whilst the report OWP5(a) does not contain exempt information and has thus been made available to the public, the Annex contains information that relates to a competitive procurement process and is commercially sensitive . It is therefore RECOMMENDED that the public should be excluded during the consideration of this item because its discussion in public would be likely to lead to the disclosure to members of the public present of information in the following prescribed category prescribed by Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, paragraph 3:

3.                  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would prejudice the position of the authority in that disclosure would distort the proper process of the transaction and Oxfordshire County Council’s standing generally in relation to such transactions in the future, to the detriment of Oxfordshire County Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority.

The Oxfordshire Waste Partnership Joint Committee is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)   note the outcome of the evaluation which is that Tender 3 is the leading bid; and

(b)   endorse the award of the contract as a combined Waste and Energy service to Tenderer 3.

The public was excluded during this item because its discussion in public would have been likely to lead to the disclosure to members of the public present of information in the following prescribed category:

3.                  Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information);

and since it was considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, in that such disclosure would prejudice the position of the authority in that disclosure would distort the proper process of the transaction and Oxfordshire County Council’s standing generally in relation to such transactions in the future, to the detriment of Oxfordshire County Council’s ability properly to discharge its fiduciary and other duties as a public authority.

Wayne Lewis introduced the contents of the report and exempt annex. He made a presentation that gave additional information on the recommended tenderer including their general approach, how they would work with schools and their community outreach working, the resources they would bring, staffing, performance management and their added value.

During discussion Members emphasised the need use Parish Councils and web sites to promote the service and to focus particularly those areas that were keys targets for recycling. As the service was aimed at young people the use of social networking sites were important. Officers were congratulated on the provision of an improved service at a reduced cost. Responding to questions Wayne Lewis confirmed that District Council’s would be represented on the Project Board and he also outlined how performance could be measured including community audits. There was some discussion of the opportunity to widen the service to independent schools for a charge.

RESOLVED:               to;

(a)        note the outcome of the evaluation which is that Tender 3 is the leading bid; and

(b)        endorse the award of the contract as a combined Waste and Energy service to Tenderer 3.

N.B. Following the decision the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership was informed that Tenderer 3 was Groundwork Thames Valley.