Cheshire East Council’s award-winning company Ansa is in discussions with two other authorities to create a new joint venture partnership to deliver waste collection and other environmental services.
Staffordshire Moorlands and High Peak councils have agreed with Ansa the principle of establishing a subsidiary company to carry out waste collections, street cleansing, grounds maintenance and fleet management for the two authorities.
Waste disposal will remain the responsibility of both Staffordshire and Derbyshire County Councils.
The new venture aims to save Staffordshire Moorlands and High Peak councils more than £1m over the lifetime of the arrangement on their combined budget of more than £8m.
The joint venture partnership will be a stand-alone arrangement and will utilise existing facilities and resources currently available within High Peak and Staffordshire Moorlands, with all existing employees transferred to the new partnership arrangement.
The proposal will not affect the current contract between Ansa and Cheshire East Council, meaning that environmental services will continue as normal.
Discussions have been taking place between Ansa and both councils over a number of weeks and changes in the management of services will be introduced through a phased approach over the next 18 months.
Both authorities are keen to maintain and improve – where possible – their strong recycling rates, and have commissioned Ansa to achieve this while also aiming to improve the overall performance of their existing environmental services.
The Cheshire East company has transformed recycling rates in the borough to make the authority one of the best-performing authorities in the country.
Fifty-five per cent of the 183,000 tonnes of household waste collected – above the national average – is recycled, 17 per cent is processed into energy renewal with only 28 per cent going to landfill.
Last year residents’ feedback on council services gave Ansa a 90 per cent public satisfaction rate for waste collection. It was a finalist in the national recycling awards and retained the Rospa gold award for health and safety training.
Councillor Rachel Bailey, Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “Ansa will share its high standard of best practice, expertise and service delivery with these two neighbouring authorities and we are proud that High Peak and Staffordshire Moorlands have agreed to enter into this partnership arrangement with a Cheshire East Council owned company.”
Cllr John Hammond, chairman of Ansa, said: “This arrangement is a glowing reflection on the reputation of Ansa as a company that seeks to achieve the highest standards of service for its commissioning authorities and for council taxpayers in all three boroughs.
“We look forward to a long and successful working partnership.”
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