North Kesteven District Council's waste collection service provides good value for money. The service performs well; the council's recycling rate is in the top ten nationally and the amount of waste sent to landfill is very low, yet the cost of the service per household is also very low. This case study explores what drives this value for money position, with a focus on particular initiatives or ways of working that have enabled the service to improve performance and keep costs down.

North Kesteven is one of the best performing councils in the country for recycling a large proportion of their waste and minimising overall levels of waste produced by households. The authority has maintained a high level of performance over several years, and has been able to build on their performance year-on-year, whilst also ensuring that the service is as efficient as possible.

The council manages to achieve high performance ratings at a low cost per household by:
• Matching operations to the needs of local area, for example the three wheeled bin system for residual, garden and recycling waste, implementing alternate weekly collections, ensuring flexibility with crew sizes and reducing garden waste rounds in winter.

• Developing a culture of continuous improvement, for example increasing the range of recyclable materials collected, conducting a route optimisation review and developing staff engagement activities.

• Driving out costs, for example targeting education/prevention resources to the areas of greatest need, moving customer contact into the customer services function, maximising the value from contracts and reducing staff costs during off-peak periods to reduce agency spend.

This case study aims to share good practice amongst waste authorities. Rushcliffe Borough Council's waste collection service provides good value for money. The service performs well: recycling rates are amongst the highest in the country, the amount of waste sent to landfill is low and resident satisfaction with the service is high, yet the cost of the service per household is fairly low.

This case study explores what drives this value for money position, with a focus on particular initiatives or ways of working that have enabled the service to improve performance and keep costs down. Summary RushcliffeÂ’’s waste collection service performs very well and the council aims to provide an exceptional service on a modest budget. Year on year the council improves its recycling rates and further minimises the overall levels of waste produced by households.

The authority has maintained and improved this high level of performance over several years, but manages to keep unit costs comparatively low. The council manages to provide a value for money service by:

• Matching operations to the needs of local area, for example the three wheeled bin system for residual, garden and recycling waste, implementing alternate weekly collections, ensuring flexibility with crew sizes and reducing garden waste rounds in winter.

• Getting the best from their staff, for example by investing in their development and agreeing mutually convenient terms under the new working agreement.

• Focusing on the customer, for example using education and prevention activities to improve performance levels, investing in customer service and using real-time reporting technology to provide a responsive service.

When Charnwood Borough Council's environmental services contract was coming to an end it was felt that it was time for the contract to be updated and the market tested. Through a review and subsequent tendering process a new contractor was awarded which aims to save £2.4 million in its first two years of existence.

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has been working with energy and procurement professionals across public sector organisations since July 2007 to help them to Buy Smarter and use less energy through setting up the Pan Government Energy Project (PGEP). Following this work, it has been proven that organisations increase savings and mitigate risks through adopting an aggregated, flexible, risk managed approach to all energy procurement.

The public sector currently spend around £3.8 billion per annum on Electricity and Gas - which equates to approximately 7% of UK total consumption!

Currently 66% of all public sector volumes are being procured through a Pan Government recommended solution. Early findings for the project identified the following:

• 250 OJEUs for energy contracts were issued by public sector organisations within a two year period;
• No common Terms and Conditions;
• No common requirements;
• Multiple channels to a few major suppliers;
• 50% public spend not-aggregated.