THE CONTROVERSIAL restructuring of the waste contracts in Thurrock took another turn today (Tuesday) as Veoila announced it was seeking a High Court injunction to enforce a re-run of the procurement process.
Three weeks ago, Portfolio Holder Mike Revell proudly announced the new “seven ways split” contract as a value for money deal that could save Thurrock Council £2 million. However, experts believe that success for Veoila in the courts could leave a severe financial burden on the council.
A Veolia Environmental Services’ spokesperson said:
“We can confirm that we are seeking an injunction from the High Court which, if successful, would ensure the procurement process for the Thurrock Council collection services contract is rerun.
“This approach is designed to ensure that local residents gain ‘Best Value’ from this process in terms of both the quality and value for money of their recycling and refuse collection services.”
A Thurrock Council spokesperson said: “As part of a dispute regarding the process for granting a new contract for waste collection within the borough Veolia have lodged a claim against the council at the High Court.
“As yet no hearing date has been set and it would be inappropriate for the council to comment further.”
Sounds a bit like sour grapes from Veolia, they have lost the tender (or at least part if it) and they wat to take TBC to court.
If they were more flexible with their working practices in the first place and had not upset a lot of residents during the inclement weather then maybe the contract would have gone to them??
You can’t have your cake and eat it.
Will any council want to touch Veolia with a barge pole now if they cause extra costs by suing once the contract ends? I would think councils up and down the country will be looking at this case and costs incurred and thinking twice about using Veolia. There are no winners as the council (ie taxpayers) lose due to the costs of fighting the court case and Veolia lose as their reputation gets tarnished.