Cabinet members will be asked to consider insourcing services including recycling and waste collections and street cleansing from Peterborough Limited, at a meeting taking place on Tuesday 11 March.
It is the latest in a line of recommendations to insource services as a result of an ongoing review of the council’s contracts and companies to ensure services are being delivered in the most efficient and effective way.
If councillors agree to the recommendations, the council will serve 12 months' notice on the contract with Peterborough Limited, however it will work with the Peterborough Limited (P-Ltd) Board to try and bring the transfer of some or all of the services forward to an earlier date.
P-Ltd is a limited company, wholly owned by the council. It commenced service delivery in February 2019 and the council currently commissions it to provide the following services:
- Recycling and waste collections, street cleansing, parks and open spaces, home to school transport routes, workshop facilities, facilities management and property services. These services are provided under the Aragon Direct Services brand;
- Leisure and culture services: operation of various leisure facilities, libraries and archive services, Flag Fen and Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery. These services will all be provided under Peterborough Culture, Heritage, Learning and Leisure Ltd (PCHLL).
The council is now proposing to insource the Peterborough Limited services which fall under the Aragon banner.
The council intends to continue delivering leisure, library and heritage services via PCHLL, with a dedicated, specialist management team in place.
Councillor Angus Ellis, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Peterborough Limited provides some of our most public facing services which touch the lives of everyone in the city. We want to have more control over how these services are provided as well as the ability to look at how they can be provided more efficiently given how crucial it is that the council achieves financial sustainability.
“The council has recently successfully reviewed other companies and contracts, including Serco and Opportunity Peterborough - and transferred employees in house. This has given the council more say over how these services are provided and delivered financial savings.
“I would like to thank everyone at Peterborough Limited for their continued hard work and would like to assure all staff that we will keep them informed and updated as things progress.”
You can read the Cabinet report in full here.