A group of councillors has called on Gloucestershire County Council to review the awarding of a contract for a £500 million energy from waste facility.
Ten councillors from the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties say that the Conservative-led cabinet at the council did not properly consider the council’s scrutiny committee recommendation before awarding the contract to Urbaser Balfour Beatty.
Councillor Lesley Williams said: “Their report [the scrutiny committee] said it was not sensible to award the waste contract for the incinerator until the planning permission was in place.
“But the cabinet just ignored the scrutiny committee’s report and recommendation.
“We still don’t know what the financial liability Gloucestershire taxpayers could face if there is a planning delay or if the contract breaks down.”
Leader of the council Mark Hawthorne said: “The procurement of a residual waste plant to deal with Gloucestershire’s rubbish has been carried out for over five years, with many opportunities for councillors to examine the process.”
The call-in request will now be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee.
