North Norfolk waste deal could save �3.5m

A pioneering cross-border deal to provide bin collection and street cleaning will save North Norfolk taxpayers almost �3.5m over eight years if it is agreed this evening.

North Norfolk District Council and King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council are trying to cut costs by coming together to thrash out a waste management deal.

This evening, North Norfolk's full council will be asked to ratify its part of the deal - a near-�40m, eight-year contract with Kier, to begin on April 1 2011.

West Norfolk's full council will go into private session at the same time to decide whether or not to agree its own contract with Kier, to begin in April 2013. Other details of the deal have not been made public.

While the two contracts are separate, the councils are expecting to save money through jointly procuring the deal. It is expected that Kier will also be able to cut costs by treating the neighbouring districts as one patch, potentially delivering a more efficient service.

North Norfolk's strategic director environment Nick Baker said staff working for the current contractor, Norse, would transfer to similar roles at Kier. He said Kier would introduce an 'entirely new fleet' of waste collection vehicles.

And he added: 'The public will not notice any great differences to the service. Their bins will still be collected on the same basis as they are now, and the streets will still be cleaned.'