Agenda item

To consider a report (which includes confidential appendices) by Councillor Brian Jones, Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to award a contract to the preferred supplier for 14 new 5M Resource Recover Vehicles as part of the wider waste services remodelling project.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       grant approval for the award of a contract to the preferred supplier for 11 x 5M Diesel RRVs and 3 x 5M ULEV RRVs at a total cost of £2,712,231.  Denbighshire County Council will fund £2,217,231 with Welsh Government contributing £495,000 for the purchase of the 3 ULEV vehicles (Appendix 1 to the report referred);

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment as part of its consideration (Appendix 3 to the report), and

(c)        approves the immediate implementation of the decision given the long lead-in times on the larger 5M RRVs and (just as importantly) to secure the tendered prices given market uncertainties and  price inflation which may mean tenderers prices are withdrawn at short notice.

[The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services referred to the confidential appendices to the report for reasons of commercial sensitivity and advised that any detailed questioning on those elements should be carried out in private session.]

Councillor Brian Jones presented the report on the process undertaken during the fleet procurement exercise as part of the wider waste services remodelling project and sought Cabinet approval to award a contract to the preferred supplier for the 14 new 5M Resource Recover Vehicles (RRV).  The tender award comprised 11 diesel 5M RRV waste vehicles and 3 Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) waste vehicles.  Given the long lead-in times on the larger 5M RRVs and to secure the tendered prices it was also recommended that the decision be implemented immediately.

The Head of Highways and Environmental Services and the Fleet Manager added that, following further discussion with the Welsh Government, it had been agreed to increase the number of ULEV waste vehicles from 2 to 3 which would further reduce fleet emissions when introduced and represented a significant change to the way the service operated.  Councillor Jones reiterated the need to launch the new waste model in autumn of 2023 to avoid further financial pressure for the service following the expiry of the current contract with United Paper Mills.

Cabinet was supportive of the steps to reduce carbon emissions in the fleet and discussed with officers the reliability/robustness of the ULEV waste vehicles to meet the needs of the authority and the new ways of working going forward together with lead in times in order to meet delivery timescales.  Officers responded that –

·         work had been carried out to test the viability of the ULEV vehicles and their limitations on different routes, conditions, etc. and there was confidence that they would meet service obligations – any risk in that regard had been mitigated by introducing a small number into the fleet at this point and the intention was to introduce more ULEV vehicles over time; it was likely that when the diesel vehicles reached their end of life it would be mandatory to replace them with zero emission vehicles, hence the phased approach to transition to manage risk

·         the Maintenance Team had been retrained to maintain electric vehicles which provided potential opportunities for the fleet service to work collaboratively in the future.  The Maintenance Unit in Bodelwyddan was a commercial garage and it was hoped that the change would provide long term benefits to the local business community as well as the internal fleet

·         it was expected the relatively long lead in time would provide the opportunity to commission the vehicles and provide the necessary training to new staff in readiness to roll out the new way of working – subject to no significant issues in the industry the suppliers should be able to deliver the vehicles in approximately a year’s time to enable the roll out of the new waste model by autumn 2023.

The Leader invited further questions from non-Cabinet members and the Lead Member and officers responded to comments/questions as follows –

·         non-recyclable household waste was processed at Parc Adfer, Deeside as part of a collaborative arrangement with five North Wales authorities whilst recyclable household waste was processed at United Paper Mills, Shotton

·         reasons given for the electric vehicles being more expensive than diesel vehicles included the cost of the battery in comparison to an internal combustion engine, the research and development cost for the new technology which was generally paid at the outset, and market forces

·         the rationale behind the decision for fully electric vehicles was explained. Whilst smaller hybrid vehicles were available the Council had chosen electric vehicles to maximise carbon reduction given that the electric vehicles were sufficient in terms of capacity, charging, and range to meet daily requirements.  There were currently no hybrid options for the larger vehicles and whilst there were some hydrogen powered vehicles they were extremely expensive and cost prohibitive.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

(a)       grant approval for the award of a contract to the preferred supplier for 11 x 5M Diesel RRVs and 3 x 5M ULEV RRVs at a total cost of £2,712,231.  Denbighshire County Council will fund £2,217,231 with Welsh Government contributing £495,000 for the purchase of the 3 ULEV vehicles (Appendix 1 to the report referred);

(b)       confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Wellbeing Impact Assessment as part of its consideration (Appendix 3 to the report), and

(c)        approves the immediate implementation of the decision given the long lead-in times on the larger 5M RRVs and (just as importantly) to secure the tendered prices given market uncertainties and  price inflation which may mean tenderers prices are withdrawn at short notice.