---
title: "VEAT Notice - South West Kent Waste Partnership - Waste Services Contract 2019"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "TUNBRIDGE WELLS BOROUGH COUNCIL"
published: "2023-03-10"
---

# VEAT Notice - South West Kent Waste Partnership - Waste Services Contract 2019

Buyer: TUNBRIDGE WELLS BOROUGH COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb

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## Summary

The procurement process was initiated by Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for the South West Kent Waste Partnership - Waste Services Contract 2019 in the services industry category. The contract, awarded to Urbaser Ltd and Urbaser SAU, involves recycling and refuse collection services in Kent, England. The contract has an initial term of 8 years with options for extensions. The total value of the contract is £121,340,554.85 (excluding VAT), and the procurement method used was an Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition.

This tender provides opportunities for businesses in waste management services to compete for a long-term contract in the public sector. Companies with expertise in refuse collection and recycling services, particularly those with experience in managing large-scale contracts, would be well-suited to participate. The modifications to the contract aim to address market challenges, improve service efficiency, and benefit both the contracting authority and the local community by ensuring smooth service transitions and reducing carbon emissions.

## Notice

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council ("TMBC") and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council ("TWBC") (together "the Partnership") awarded a contract to Urbaser Ltd and Urbaser SAU ("Urbaser") for recycling and refuse collection services and street cleansing services across the local authority areas covered by the Partnership ("the Contract"). The procurement leading to the award of the Contract was advertised in the OJEU (Contract Notice 2018/S 023-048722). Details can be found in the Contract Notice and Contract Award Notice (2019/S 060-139796). The contract is for a term of 8 years with an option to extend twice; the first extension for either up to 2 years or 8 years and the second extension for a period of 2 years but only if the contract has already been extended for 8 years. The estimated total value of the Contract is PS121,340,554.85 (excluding VAT). The Partnership is intending to modify the Contract as described in this Notice.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Contract commenced in March 2019 with an initial term of 8 years. The estimated value of the Contract was PS121,340,554.85 (excl. VAT). The services have been affected by the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers, as a result of which the garden waste service and some other collections were temporarily suspended. In order to attract and retain drivers, Urbaser proposed an enhanced pay rate. In the period May to October 2022 the Partnership provided some financial assistance towards that enhanced pay rate. The support was conditional upon Urbaser providing evidence of the enhanced pay rate actually provided to the drivers and incurred by Urbaser. The value of the Partnership's support between May and October 2022 was capped at PS178,896.87. That support has been successful in recruiting and retaining drivers. The pressures in the market continue, however, and the Partnership intends to continue to provide this support for the period from November 2022 to 31 March 2023. [Continued at VI.3] Additional information: The value in II.1.7 represents the estimated value of the Contract when it was originally entered into in September 2018. The estimated value of the Contract taking into account the proposed modification detailed in this notice will be up to a maximum of PS121,786,554.58.

### Procurement Information

The Partnership considers that it is permissible to make the proposed modifications to the Contract because they fall within the scope of Regulation 72(1)(e) and 72(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("PCR") which permit modifications that are not "substantial". The proposed modifications do not render the Contract materially different from the one initially concluded. The financial support to be provided from November 2022 to March 2023 will not exceed PS146,500 (approx. 0.12% of the value of the Contract). It relates to a market-wide issue and will only be paid upon Urbaser providing evidence of the actual costs incurred. It will not alter the economic balance of the Contract. From April 2023 the increased cost of wages will be covered by the Contract's indexation provisions. In relation to the re-rounding of collections and re-fleeting of vehicles, this will bring a direct benefit to the Partnership and its residents. Waste collections will be more efficient, the number of journeys will reduce, as will carbon emissions. The contribution provided in relation to the costs of early termination of the existing vehicle leases will be limited to PS300,000 (approx. 0.25% of the value of the Contract) which will reflect a share of Urbaser's costs of implementing the improvements to the service. While the Partnership will ultimately acquire a liability (in the form of the unexpired term of the vehicle lease) this will directly benefit the Partnership by facilitating a smooth transition to a new provider or to in-house provision, with the key assets in place. It will mean that the Partnership or a new provider will not be exposed to the need to compete with established service providers for new vehicles in a congested market during a transition period. Urbaser taking the new vehicles on an 8-year lease (the expected life of such vehicles) ensures value for money which ultimately benefits the Partnership and its taxpayers. The Partnership considers that the proposed modifications (individually and collectively) do not render the Contract materially different to the one originally concluded, do not extend the scope of the Contract, do not alter the economic balance of the Contract in favour of Urbaser, and would not have affected the participation in, or outcome of, the procurement. The Partnership is providing details of the historical modifications that have occurred to date, which were de minimis and therefore did not require a re-procurement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007049-2023 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 10 Mar 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 24 Sep 2018 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £121,340,554 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | TUNBRIDGE WELLS BOROUGH COUNCIL |
| Locality | TUNBRIDGE WELLS |
| Post town | Tonbridge |
| Postcode | TN1 1RS |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ4 Kent |
| ITL 3 | TLJ46 West Kent |
| Local authority | Tunbridge Wells |
| Electoral ward | Park |
| Westminster constituency | Tunbridge Wells |
| Delivery location | TLJ46 West Kent |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | URBASER LTD AND URBASER SAU |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 90 - Sewage, refuse, cleaning and environmental services

### Codes

- 90500000 - Refuse and waste related services

## Release History

- 10 Mar 2023 at 12:35 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007049-2023

## Notice URLs

- http://www.tunbridgewells.gov.uk
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:139796-2019:TEXT:EN:HTML

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03b1cb.json.