Agenda item

To consider a Briefing Note of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

The Scrutiny Board received a presentation on the waste collection services over the Christmas 2020 and New Year period.

Councillor P Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services introduced the item and praised the staff and crews for working under exceptional circumstances to ensure that waste collections were completed in a timely manner. She expressed disappointment at the complaints given the unprecedented circumstances presented by the pandemic and the adverse weather conditions.

Every year, collection arrangements for the Christmas and New Year period differed according to how the Bank Holidays fell. Since the introduction of alternate weekly collections in 2017, collection requirements had changed in order to minimise disruption to residents and to ensure collection capacity was maximised. Collection arrangements for the 2020 Christmas and New Year period were as per the following:

·  Garden/Food – Collections suspended over the Christmas and New Year period to allow for staff to be utilised elsewhere in the service. Collections to commence week beginning 18January 2021.

·  Domestic – No collections between 25-28 December and 1^st January 2021. All households received an extra collection to ensure that the green bin was collected the week before and the week after shutdown week.

·  Recycling – No collections on Christmas Day or between 29^th December and 1^st January. Clear sacks were delivered to each household to allow for extra recycling to be put out and collected after Christmas.

Any households that were scheduled for a collection of their green or blue lidded bins on Friday 25th December had their bins collected on Monday 28th December.

The Board were informed that working arrangements for staff over the Christmas period are voluntary. Last year, this, coupled with difficulty of recruiting agency staff caused numerous problems. This year, as the Bank Holiday fell on 28 December, the financial incentives were far higher and as a result, staffing levels were up, and all rounds were completed successfully. Waste collection statistics were attached to the briefing note at Appendix A.

The calendars detailing Christmas collection schedules and the clear sacks for
additional recycling were delivered by Royal Mail this year with a total cost for
production and delivery of over £75k. This was the last year that calendars would be delivered, instead, they would be made available on request.

The announcement of the third lockdown meant that collections proved to be challenging and with many staff having to shield or self-isolate, which resulted in huge implications on the service. Additional resources had to be drafted in and diverted to focus on bin collection rather than the clear bags, which meant that some bags were left uncollected for longer than envisaged. Future provision of the clear bags was under review given the challenge and disruption caused by the non-collection of the bags this year.

The Board noted that the provision of the waste collection service over the Christmas and New Year period was due to be considered corporately with the trade unions which may have implications for the service.

Members commented and questioned the officers on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Missed waste collections continued to be an issue over the Christmas period

·  Consideration should be given to outsourcing the service

·  The need for clear bags, especially given cost and the problems caused

·  Consideration needed to be given to alternative methods of communication on bin collections as not everyone has access to a computer

·  Members to be given access to the most up to date information which could be shared via social media sites to ensure that the information is out in the community

Officers undertook to circulate a separate note on the communications channels available for members to access up to date information which could be shared via social media, should they wish to do so.

Councillor G Duggins, Leader of the Council, was present at the meeting stated that the waste collection crews and the service should be unequivocally thanked on how they had performed over the last year. He added that outsourcing the service was definitely not an option for consideration. And he agreed that waste collections over the Christmas and New Year needed to be considered and would be reviewed.  

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4):

1.  Notes the presentation and placed on record their appreciation of the work undertaken by the staff during the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic.

2.  Notes that a review of the service was due to be undertaken in relation to staffing of the service over the Christmas period and requested that the Board be provided with an update on the outcome of the review.

3.  Recommends that the use of clear plastic bags for recycling waste over the Christmas period be included in the above review.