Agenda item

Kate Pearson introduced the report (Agenda Item 6), which aimed to inform schools on the options available for future provision for the Waste Recycling Collection and Disposal Service in light of the expiry of the current contract on 31^st March 2023.

Kate Pearson reported that current contract served 85 school sites throughout the West Berkshire District Council area. The Council had been responsible for the procurement of the contract and was the contract manager. The report detailed the reasons as to why this approach was being moved away from moving forward, including issues with the contract management and the amount of time it consumed. The proposed options would bring management of the waste contract in line with the catering and cleaning contracts, which schools’ managed directly.

Going forward schools could go out to procure independently or opt to be part of the Council led procurement process. Schools would however, need to take on the contract management in house rather than this responsibility sitting with the Council as it did currently. A decision on this was being sought from schools by 30^th September 2022 to allow time for re-procurement by 31^st March 2023 when the current contract was due to expire. Kate Pearson highlighted that a draft timetable for the procurement process was included under section 6.5 of the report.

RESOLVED that the Schools’ Forum noted the report.