An action plan to improve the performance of the Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP) is almost complete, the partnership’s joint committee will hear on Monday (14 September), though a second consecutive overspend is likely.

The committee approved a 37-point action plan in March, after a host of problems including the ‘catastrophic’ rollout of its county-wide ‘Recycle for Dorset’ collection scheme and a vast budget overspend of £2.7 million.

The seven partner councils comprising the DWP appointed independent consultancy White Young Green (WYG) to provide interim management support and oversee delivery of the action plan, which sought to improve the partnership’s governance, leadership, financial controls and project and risk management.

‘Recycle for Dorset’, the DWP’s integrated recycling collection scheme, was rolled out in October last year, but was the subject of a Weymouth and Portland Borough Council (WPBC) scrutiny and performance report after local councillors called the rollout a ‘fiasco’. The report was ordered after the area received an average of 1,400 complaint calls a day during the scheme’s first week.

In addition to the service problems, in March DWP Director Steve Burdis was temporarily suspended after the body’s 2014 budget was overspent by £2.8 million. Nigel Mattravers, who was holding the position of director in the interim, then left his role in August, prior to the completion of his six-month contract. Burdis remains suspended while an external investigation is completed.

Improvements to operations being made

At a meeting on Monday, the joint committee will be told that, six months after introducing the action plan, 33 of the 37 required changes to the DWP’s operations have been made.

Changes made so far include:

• setting and reporting on new performance targets for recycling, landfill, sickness and missed collections;
• robust budget monitoring to highlight potential overspend;
• keeping partner councils informed and involved in decision-making about service changes with financial implications;
• progressing a range of savings options; and
• identifying and training budget holders at all staff levels.

Four actions are ongoing and take the form of longer-term projects. They are:

• a review of the governance arrangements of the DWP;
• a review of support services provided by the county council and new service-level agreements;
• procurement of new fleet and fuel information management systems; and
• maximising the efficiency of collection routes across the county.

Savings needed as second consecutive overspend looms

Latest monitoring of the budget suggests a risk of overspending by £686,000 in the 2015/16 financial year, reduced from the £911,000 forecast earlier this year.

Vehicle hire will again make up a large proportion to the overspend (around £190,000), with a shortfall of £130,000 in income from garden waste collection, which householders can opt-in to for £41 per year, also contributing.

Further cost-cutting measures are being considered, with Christmas tree collections, costing around £10,000 per year, being stopped and recycling credits due to be discussed at next week’s meeting.

WYG has also provided a report to the chief executives of the seven partner councils outlining different ways of delivering services and potential outsourcing options.

Monday’s report will recommend that the joint committee change the type of collection vehicles in some areas and collect glass differently in ‘hard-to-reach properties’.

It also advises that ‘no economies should be gained by outsourcing the waste collections and street cleaning service’ and that the DWP should not look at any potential outsourcing before 2017, when the existing waste disposal contracts will change.

The final phase of the ‘Recycle for Dorset’ rollout will be completed in October, after a three-month delay introducing the service to 20,000 households in West Dorset and Bridport.

Despite its teething and vehicular problems, the recycling rate in the county increased from 54 per cent in 2013/14 to 59 per cent in 2014/15, with the amount of waste sent to landfill halving in the same period.

‘Improved control will enable future savings’

Cllr Anthony Alford, Chair of the DWP Joint Committee, said: “With the improved financial control now in place we are able to monitor the budget throughout the financial year and take appropriate action to bring down costs.

“We are also seeing big savings with much less waste going to landfill as a result of the new collection service and prudent management of our contracts.

“Partner councils are carefully considering the options for how we can deliver waste services more efficiently into the future in what are increasingly challenging conditions for local government and waste management nationally.”

Learn more about DWP’s ‘Recycle for Dorset’ rollout.