Yesterday I attended a North Herts Council scrutiny meeting that looked at the council’s new waste contract, including the green waste charging option. The scrutiny committee doesn’t make the decision – it’s role is to advise the Council’s cabinet which does.

This is what we learned about the North Herts proposals:

• The recommended contractor is not only the cheapest, but the contractor with the lowest quality score.
• Only the recommended contractor’s price for the contract options including charging for green waste collection has been evaluated. As those of you who have ever been involved with contract negotiations of this sort will know in these circumstances the bidders cut the price of the base contract and aim to improve the margin by ramping up the price of the options where there is no competition. The council’s officers seem to believe that the contractors would not do this, which is rather worrying.
• There was an admission that the officers expected that the public would opposed green waste charges, but they apparently thought that asking the question and then ignoring the answer would (a) fulfill the council’s duty to consult and (b) cause less trouble than not asking people.
• They admit that there will be increased use of the Household Waste Recycling Centres and that garden waste will be put in purple bins, so reducing recycling rates.
• There appears to be no ambition to increase recycling rates above the current target of 60% (they achieve something like 58% at present).

Some of the most interesting points relate to financial information which currently not in the public domain and which I am not allowed to tell anyone.

I managed to secure a recommendation to the cabinet that they should recognise the considerable opposition to green waste charges and consider this before making any decision on whether to introduce them. This was watered down somewhat by the Conservative councillors adding that if they decided to go ahead they should carefully explain the reasons.

The cabinet is due to make the decision next Monday (16th October). We shall have to see whether they pay any attention to the clear views of people in North Herts. There is still time to sign the petition at www.northhertslibdems.org.uk/bintax to express your views if you have not already done so.