A CONTROVERSIAL move to get a private company to empty bins across Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon can today be revealed - with the aim of saving £1.6 million a year.

Your Worcester News can reveal how a tri-council deal is expected to be struck between all three areas to privatise the jobs of around 150 workers from 2017 who do environmental work like rubbish collections, street sweeping and park maintenance.

But the move leaves the future of Malvern's weekly household waste service hanging in the air, with the council's leader refusing to offer any guarantees over it being retained.

Council chiefs have also refused to guarantee there will be no job losses, but are hoping the majority of roles transfer over to the private firm.

It comes after Worcester City Council asked outside consultants to see if annual savings of £500,000 are achievable by outsourcing most of its cleaner and greener department - and the answer is no.

The consultancy, Manchester-based GlobeEC, reckons it could be as low as just £250,000 unless a bigger deal is struck between Worcester, Malvern and Wychavon to make it "more attractive to the market".

The city council's leadership is now being asked to back a new blueprint for it to offer private firms two contracts - a 'Worcester only' deal for street cleaning and park maintenance and another south Worcestershire wide deal for bins.

Such a deal, if it can be sewn up, would involve 130,000 households, with the aim of slashing £1.6 million from a combined spend of £10.5 million, a figure which the consultants estimate is achievable.

We can also reveal how the city council, which is taking the lead in driving it forward, has prepared a budget of £200,000 for drawing up the hunt for a private provider because of the massive complexities involved, although some of the costs will end up being shared.

Wychavon already outsources its refuse service to a firm called FCC Environmental but that deal expires in 2017, giving it an ideal window to strike a new combined deal.

But district councils in Worcester and Malvern provide their services in-house, meaning frantic talks are now planned between all three.

Malvern is unique in still offering its taxpayers a weekly rubbish collection but that is now up in the air.

Both of the Conservative cabinets in Worcester and Malvern are meeting next week to endorse the strategy, which will kick-start work towards drawing up a shortlist of private firms by May 2016 and it launching by September 2017.

It would affect 114 city council workers, with the rest coming from the other two authorities.

Councillor Andy Roberts, Worcester's cabinet member cleaner and greener, said: "We will not do anything that compromises Worcester’s hard-earned reputation as a clean, green and safe city.

"It’s important to stress that if we do go down this route our residents will see little change.

"We will ensure that contracts we enter into will maintain the same high standards of waste and recycling collections, of street cleaning and of the maintenance of our parks."

But Labour Councillor Lynn Denham, opposition spokesperson for commissioning, said: "This is the first solid information we've seen on the intentions of the Tory administration - this is the largest service this council provides, it's really important in our city.

"There has to be question marks over value for money and whether this is the right route to go down."

WHERE DOES IT LEAVE MALVERN?

QUESTION marks are being raised about Malvern, where residents still get a weekly black sack rubbish collection.

Such an offer has become increasingly rare across the country in recent years as local authorities have sought to slash costs and encourage more recycling by doing alternate pick-ups for each - once a fortnight for general rubbish.

Councillor Phil Grove, the leader of Malvern Hills District Council, has told your Worcester News it is too early to be sure what will happen, or offer any guarantees over it.

Service specifications will have to come back from the private contractors before the councils look at each one.

"I'm fully aware of the services we provide the residents of Malvern, and I know it's very valued," he said.

"Whatever Worcester and Wychavon decide, I do think we can offer something different, but it's a long journey ahead of us.

"There will be lots of options out there, different permutations on how we can provide services, we need to look at what comes back."

A report for his council's executive committee states that an outside contractor will "most likely propose changes to the way the services are performed" but does not suggest any downscaling of frequency.

As part of the consultancy work by GlobeEC, it did examine an option of launching a new arms-length management company, similar to the old Worcester Community Housing, to take over the services, but it's been discounted because Malvern and Wychavon didn't want it.

Of the total estimated £1.6 million yearly saving to south Worcestershire's taxpayers, Worcester's share is expected to be considerably more than £250,000 but less than a third of the overall clawback.

The whole project was kicked off earlier this year when Duncan Sharkey, the now-departed managing director of the city council, wrote to the other two authorities to invite them to talk.

* To see the full Worcester City Council cabinet report yourself go HERE - and to see what the report for the attention of Malvern's executive committee says, click HERE.