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Lib Dems call-in Tory cabinet's waste contract decision
Liberal Democrat councillors on Gloucester City Council have launched a "call-in" of the ruling Conservative administration's decision to rule out taking waste services back under direct council control - accusing them of "political bias". At a meeting of the cabinet last week, Tory councillors rejected the option of bringing household bin collections, recycling, street cleaning and grounds maintenance back in-house - claiming the move was "unaffordable". Currently these services are provided by Amey under a controversial 15-year contract which is due to run until 2022. Instead the council cabinet wants to decide between extending the contract with Amey, who are due to be taken over by Urbaser Ltd, or using waste company Ubico, which runs collections and street cleaning in other parts of Gloucestershire. The cabinet has delayed a decision until the end of January next year to allow Urbaser - who operates the Javelin Park incinerator in partnership with Balfour Beatty - to finalise its offer to the council. No