A PRIVATE firm that signed a "super contract" to deliver a huge swathe of council services for more than 20 years could be ditched after just four following a review which uncovered a catalogue of failings.

The deal between giant company Amey and Trafford town hall was heralded as groundbreaking back in 2015, with the potential for billions of pounds-worth of savings across Greater Manchester if the model worked and others decided to piggy-back.

The firm was made responsible for services including bins, street cleaning, street lighting, parks maintenance and drainage for 23 years, with savings of £3 million expected annually. The deal was struck under the former Conservative administration, which was voted out last May.

Now the whole deal could fall apart.

Trafford Council chiefs are considering ripping up the contract and delivering services themselves.

There could be a financial penalty if the town hall opts out of the deal, with legal negotiations with Amey lawyers likely.

The move could mean bins are collected by the town hall, rather than an outside company, for the first time in nearly three decades.

Amey took over domestic and commercial waste from Veolia, which had emptied bins in the borough as part of an earlier outsourcing deal since 1992.

Last year, it was revealed that Amey submitted incorrect performance figures to the council, before being fined £1 million.

Those who initially protested the move, demonstrating against what they claimed was an ever-slippery slope to wholesale privatisation, said they weren’t surprised.

In the first year of the contract, the council was bombarded with complaints about dirty streets, filthy parks and overflowing bins.

Some of the inaccuracies were due to the company failing to install new equipment it promised as part of the tender application, a report said.

Amey said it had identified areas that needed improving and was committed to making the service a success.

The new Labour administration launched a review into the service provided.

A report, due to be discussed by town hall bosses next week, documents a series of errors and missed targets.

Council chiefs combed through extensive sets of data, including figures on recycling rates, missed collections and emptied public bins.

Figures on missed garden waste bin collections were particularly damning, especially considering a controversial £40 annual fee was introduced as part of the new regime.

The report revealed "poor" management has contributed to "inadequate" performance in some areas.

“This has been an issue since the partnership began, with employees feeling there is an us and them mentality,” the document adds.

Trade union representatives claimed they had been misled over some contractual arrangements and that trust was lost between staff and management.

Staff from every department involved in the shake-up, around 250, were due to move to Amey under the same terms and conditions.

Town hall bosses say they are clear that a number of areas of concern still remain.

“Most notably with poor performance, and the self-monitoring aspect of the contract has not worked,” the report read.

“There are also problems with poor communication across all aspects of the contract – and although improvements have been made, a significant amount of work is required to bring performance up to an acceptable standard.”

Town hall chiefs will now decide to either scrap the contract and develop an ‘in-house service’; or ‘review and reshape’ the deal.

They could also opt to continue with the contract, while aiming to make ‘significant improvements’.

Trafford council has been contacted for a comment.

Amey said: "Amey is committed to working with Trafford Council through the One Trafford Partnership to improve the quality of services.

"We have been working hard in recent months to address concerns about our services and have made good progress in some key areas.

"For instance, the number of calls to our call centre reduced from 6,589 in October, 2018, to 3,391 in December, 2018.

"At present, 99.9 per cent of residential bins are successfully collected on the first attempt.

"98 per cent of litter bins in town centres are emptied daily, 98.6 per cent of highways defects are rectified in the defined timescales and 100 per cent of precautionary salting routes are completed in accordance with the Winter Maintenance Plan.

"This is all significantly above the minimum requirements of the contract.

"We also took action in the middle of last year to restructure our management team to promote a better engagement with Trafford Council and the local community.

"The new team set about delivering initiatives to address a number of issues raised by the partnership.

"We do, however, fully recognise that as a supplier we need to be constantly challenging and improving our service to the residents of Trafford. This report highlights some key areas where we have to focus our efforts in order to achieve the contractual targets set for us.

"Amey and our local One Trafford team remain fully committed to ensuring services continually improve and meet the expectations of the council and community."