Contract Procurement and Management
The new year is a great opportunity to reflect, to better understand the achievements and lessons learnt from previous years, and that is exactly what we’ve been doing at WRAP. In 2020, WRAP undertook a review of the training opportunities available to local authority officers involved with the development, implementation and delivery of waste and recycling services and since then we have been working on addressing some of the apparent gaps in provision.
Up until 2013, WRAP delivered the ‘Recycling Managers Training Programme for Local Authorities’, which included a half day in person session on the ‘role of contracts’. The aims of which were to lead the development and implementation of effective contract arrangements with service providers that improve the efficiency of the collection, sorting, and supply of materials to end markets, and manage and monitor contracted services more effectively.
As a result of the review, it was agreed there was a need to update and re-design the training materials for WRAP to be able to offer comprehensive guidance to support local authorities in the commissioning and management of waste and recycling collection contracts.
The updated guidance has been developed by the waste consultancy Wood Plc and includes an interactive PDF that takes the user through the key stages of contract procurement and management. The PDF is supported by a comprehensive guidance manual which delves deeper into each of the subject ‘modules’ including pre-procurement planning, procurement procedures, and post procurement contract management. The new resources are transparent and digestible for the user and will be available on the WRAP website from February 2022 for local authorities to access online or download.
Website Guidance
Whilst reflecting on our achievements over the past year, we remain proud of the Recycling Tracker which is the largest and longest running survey on recycling attitudes, values, and behaviours.
WRAP’s 2020 Recycling Tracker showed that, 51% of people surveyed had searched for information about waste and recycling online or by telephone, a trend increasing year on year since 2013.
68% of respondents used their local authority website to access information about waste collections. The high percentage of residents searching their local authority’s website for waste and recycling information is positive and it highlights a clear need for LA’s to ensure their digital channels offer clear communication of key service messages and friendly usability.
It’s vital that LA websites and social media channels have clear and accessible information on a range of waste and recycling issues, with a specific focus on collection day schedules, and that they provide clarity about what can and can’t be recycled.
WRAP and Resource Futures collaborated to review a range of existing LA websites, identifying examples of good practice as well as key areas for consideration when building and managing a website.
The insights gained have helped inform the development of an evaluation tool and good practice guide whereby local authorities can score the effectiveness of their own website, and use suggestions in the practical guide to make improvements in the areas identified as a priority for action.
We’re inviting local authorities to the Good Practice Website Guide Launch on Tuesday 25th January 2022 at 11am. The webinar will be hosted by my WRAP colleague Debbie Slater and Sarah Hargreaves of Resource Futures who will demonstrate the new tool in practice and share key insights from the project. We hope that all local authorities can join us to find out how you can maximise the effectiveness of your authority’s waste and recycling webpages.
