WASTE services across Bridgend County Borough are set to come back in-house under council control by April of 2026.
The decision was made to adopt the service in order to allow it to have “more hands-on monitoring” and “sustainable flexibility”.
It came after members of the authority were asked to consider a number of different options given by waste experts in recent months alongside lengthy debates from councillors at scrutiny.
These options included bringing waste and recycling services back in-house within the council’s control, transferring the service into a local authority trading company known as a LATCO, or once again outsourcing to an external waste contractor.
However, following discussions at a council cabinet meeting held on November 19, the decision was later approved unanimously to bring the service back in house.
Councillor Paul Davies said: “I believe that bringing the service back in-house will provide us with closer, more hands-on monitoring, the ability to deal with performance issues or operational challenges in a timely manner, and opportunities for responding to enquiries from residents more effectively.
“It will also enable us to be more agile in responding to future strategic changes that may prove to be necessary, especially around issues such as collection methodology, new emerging technology and future Welsh Government targets.
“Ultimately, this decision will help us build in a greater element of control while strengthening the service’s resilience to external pressures, and I am looking forward to seeing how the plans will progress.”
Council leader John Spanswick also added that he would take full responsibility for making the important service work, saying: “Moving forward I think the direction is, as has been discussed, the in-house service delivery, but I want to pledge as leader to make it work.”
The report also noted that the council would now enter into discussions to extend the current service contract with operators Plan B Management Solutions, as a “contingency, to ensure sufficient time-scales for the transition.”
A transition board chaired by the leader will also be set up to oversee the move to the in-house service with fortnightly meetings with officers ahead of the April, 2026 deadline.
The budget for the recycling and waste services contract in the 2024-25 financial year in Bridgend is worth £8.1 million, with an anticipated total budget over the next 14 years of more than £113 million.
