LOSS MAKING KIER RECYCLING CONTRACT TO BE HANDED BACK TO COUNCIL AT UNKNOWN COST

Outsourcing company, Kier has decided to end its involvement in waste collection services. Their current contract for handling Chester bin and recycling collections will end on 31st March 2020. 

Cheshire West and Chester were previously contracted to May Gurney before the company was purchased by Kier.

Kier purchased May Gurney at an estimated cost of £221 million in 2013, and included transfer of a number of waste and recycling collection contracts.

The Waste collection contract was signed by the then Conservative run council in 2011, and was worth a total of £126 million across its fourteen year term, including an option for an additional seven year extension.  

In recent years we have been hearing more and more complaints about the bin collections in Chester. Nala Rollo, Chair for City of Chester Lib Dems, commented: 'Labour councillors readily admit that regularly "mess is being left after collections and people’s bin lids are not being put back". 

If you take a look on social media - such as @chesterbinfairy on Twitter - you can easily see how despite winning awards, the services are failing at present.

You may remember that towards the middle of last year there were also problems with StreetScene and public bin collections across the region.

We believe that, in part, such failings are due to the contract originally being awarded by the Tories despite knowing that the sums did not add up.

Hoole Campaigner Mark Williams said “Kier is a multi-billion pound company, who made over £100 million in profit last year. Yet the council can’t guarantee that Tax payers won’t lose out because of their decision to quit”.
The Council now plans to setup an arms length company, to manage collecting our recycling and bins.

We are hopeful that the council may run a more successful service by taking the contract back and running it as a not for profit.

Chester Liberal Democrats are very much aware of the importance of a well ran recycling service going forward and applaud Friends of The Earth for their local campaigns successfully raising awareness in regards to this.

Any Liberal Democrat councillor you elect in May will work to increase recycling services, bring the quality of the service back to where it should be, and work to ensure that Tax payers don’t lose out due to these changes forced upon us by Kier.