Why did Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority pay a PR agency £650 + VAT a day?

Why did Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority pay a PR agency £650 + VAT a day?

Why did Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority pay a PR agency £650 + VAT a day?

                                                           

This year I went to the offices of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (previously called Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority) where I inspected various invoices and contracts that relate to the 2014/15 financial year.

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority deal with the rubbish collected by each council on Merseyside, provide thirteen Household Waste Recycling Centres (the ones on the Wirral are the Bidston Household Waste Recycling Centre in Wallasey Bridge Road, Clatterbridge Household Waste Recycling Centre in Mount Road and West Kirby Household Waste Recycling Centre in Greenbank Road) and are also responsible for closed landfill sites such as the one at Bidston Moss.

Their 2014/15 budget was £68.6 million which comes from a levy on each on the Merseyside councils which each have to pay based on a tonnage basis. Councillor Irene Williams (Labour) and Councillor Steve Williams (Conservative) represent Wirral Council on the Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority.

In 2005 after a tender exercise MRWA (then called Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority) appointed Daniel Harris Associates for “the provision of public relations and communications services for Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority”. DH Communications Limited (also known as Daniel Harris Associates or DHA) won the tender exercise with a bid of £650 per a day (see letter below).

Letter to Daniel Harris Associates from Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority confirming they have won tender for PR contract 13th December 2005
Letter to Daniel Harris Associates from Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority confirming they have won tender for PR contract 13th December 2005

The tender that DHA won was for a three-year contract from 1st November 2005 to the 1st November 2008. DHA were paid £25,200 a year for 3 and a half days work each month. However at some point in 2009 Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority realised that “The contract with DHA was not reviewed in line with its prescribed timetable resulting in the continuation of the contract beyond the specified term.” (see pages below).

Decision to extend DHA contract in 2009 by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority page 1 of 2
Decision to extend DHA contract in 2009 by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority page 1 of 2
Decision to extend DHA contract in 2009 by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority page 2 of 2
Decision to extend DHA contract in 2009 by Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority page 2 of 2

Carl Beer is Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority’s Chief Executive. The contract was retrospectively extended from the 1st November 2008 to 1st November 2009 and an extra 12 months was added which extended the contract to 2010.

In 2014 there were a number of emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority in relation to how DHA would be charging Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority in future.

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority were at this stage paying DHA a £1,625 monthly retainer. However DHA wrote in an email that they felt “the authority has not always maximised the value of the fee it pays to us: i.e. it has made minimal call on our services”. They set out a number of options:

Option One

DHA estimated that over the last two to three years that the average cost of the work Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority had asked them to do was £990 + VAT a month (whilst they were being paid a £1,625 monthly retainer). Option one would keep the monthly retainer but reduce it to £990 + VAT instead.

Option Two

DHA would charge Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority on a project basis at £600 + VAT a day.

Option Three

DHA would charge Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority a monthly retainer of £600 + VAT a month, but if they needed more work from DHA then they would be charged £600 a day.

Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority decided to go for option 2 (from April 2015). The emails that go into the detail of these negotiations are below.

Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 1 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 1 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 2 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 2 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 3 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 3 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 4 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 4 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 5 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority Page 5 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 6 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 6 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 7 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 7 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 8 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 8 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 9 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 9 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 10 of 10
Emails between DHA and Merseyside Recyling and Waste Authority Page 10 of 10

Below are a number of the invoices submitted to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority during the 2014/15 financial year.

DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 1
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 1
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 2
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 2
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 3
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 3
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 4
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 4
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 5
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 5
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 6
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 6
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 7
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 7
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 8
DHA Communications Ltd invoice to Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority invoice 8

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The list of councillors at Wirral Council that didn’t claim expenses during 2013-14

The list of councillors at Wirral Council that didn’t claim expenses during 2013-14

The list of councillors at Wirral Council that didn’t claim expenses during 2013-14

                                                  

Councillor Chris Blakeley of the Conservatives points out on Twitter that there are many councillors that haven’t claimed expenses (I’m not referring to allowances) in 2013-14 including himself.

He suggests I write a list of those that didn’t claim expenses in the 2013-14 period.

Here it is compiled from this list here (although some are now as this last financial year ended in April former councillors): Councillors Abbey, Blakeley, Eddie Boult, Brighouse, Brightmore, Clements, Cox, Crabtree, Bill Davies, Dodd, Doughty, Ellis, Foulkes, Fraser, Gilchrist, Glasman, Green, Gregson, Hackett, Harney, Hayes, Andrew Hodson, Kathy Hodson, Johnston, Adrian Jones, Chris Jones, Kearney, Leech, Lewis, Meaden, Mitchell, Mountney, Muspratt, Niblock, Norbury, Patrick, Realey, Rennie Roberts, Rowlands, Walter Smith, Stapleton, Sullivan, Sykes, Walsh, Watt, Steve Williams, KJ Williams and Williamson.

Obviously the money that these people could have claimed (but didn’t) could be used for providing the services the Wirral people expect of a local Council. Using the councillors that did claim as a guide to amounts as to what this hypothetical amount could be, it represents a saving of about £13,700.

The list linked to above shows the allowances councillors get and let’s face it there are not many people that get paid a mileage allowance to travel from home to their place of work. Yes, being a politician isn’t a “job”, it’s an office, but after the MP expenses scandal broke a few years ago I was surprised so many at Wirral Council were still claiming expenses at all.

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