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Review after German twin-bin 'fiasco'
Jan 26, 2012
Durham County Council will make changes to its procedures following an outcry over its decision to pay a German firm £4.2m for new bins.
The authority was criticised after it awarded the contract to supply 225,000 twin-bins – despite a British firm offering to provide them for less.
The authority has said it will look again at its procurement practices and the involvement of councillors after Lib Dem councillor Mark Wilkes called for a review.
He said councillors should be allowed to comment on contracts and be regularly updated.
Durham County Council last week said it would let councillors have a say on decisions affecting their wards.
“Following the issues about the bin contract, I checked back at the review of what information and access councillors should be getting in relation to contracts and tendering at county hall and discovered that many of the recommendations from two years ago had simply never been carried through,” Cllr Wilkes said.
“I now have agreement that there will be a full review of this to make sure that councillors get regular updates and can comment on procurement issues, which will hopefully lead to more positive new in the future.
“This could include making sure that local companies have more chance of tendering for contracts, or local jobs being part of future requirements in terms. Some of this has already happened.
“The main problem up to now has been that councillors have simply not had any involvement whatsoever, with no updates on upcoming contracts.”
The council plans to introduce the bins when its switches to fortnightly refuse collections this year.
Cllr Joe Armstrong, chairman of Durham County Council’s overview and scrutiny management board, said: “In 2009, we began a review into how members are involved in the procurement process and a number of recommendations were made. Updates on progress made against these recommendations have been reported back during the past few years.
"It was agreed last week that, in line with scrutiny practice, we would continue to review progress and also to take legal advice on what is an appropriate level of member involvement in this area.
“It is extremely important to ensure that the awarding of contracts continues to be impartial but that members also receive an appropriate level of information.”