Agenda item

To consider the attached report of the Head of Environmental Services updating the Committee on the proposals for improvements within Streetscene Services.

(Council Function)

The Head of Environmental Services submitted a report which updated the Area Committee on the proposals for improvements within Streetscene Services.  The report advised that the proposals had been agreed with the Trade Unions and workforce and were the result of the negotiation associated with the industrial action between September and November 2009.  The report outlined the negotiated improvements and the programme to implement the proposals.

The Chair welcomed Stephen Smith, Head of Environmental Services, to the meeting to present the report and respond to Members’ queries and comments.

Members discussed the report and requested that they be provided with more specific detail about the service, in particular the specific days that areas were street cleansed.  Members also raised, in brief summary, the following issues:

·  Saturday collections – The Head of Environmental Services advised that it had been a short term arrangement to collect some extra bins on Saturdays in order to use spare capacity.  He also advised that the new build route had been discontinued, with new properties being incorporated into existing routes.

·  Street cleansing – Members were advised that between September 2009 and February 2010, due to the industrial action followed by severe weather, little or no street cleaning had been carried out across parts of the city.  However, the department was now endeavouring to bring standards up to the level they were previously.

·  Recycling – Members were advised that an analysis of black bin contents was carried out every six months and this study was used to determine what category of waste it would be best to divert from landfill.  Garden and food waste had been identified.  A food waste collection was being piloted in Rothwell for a year, along with a fortnightly collection of black bins.

·  The seven day street cleansing service and concerns that this would be difficult at weekends when cars were parked outside homes.

Members also expressed concern regarding complaints received from residents that bulky items were not being collected.  They questioned whether there had been a change in the policy to now involve voluntary recycling organisations and that elderly residents in particular, would find this confusing.  Members also stated that they had raised concerns with senior managers which had not been resolved satisfactorily and were concerned with their capabilities of being able to deal with these complaints.

The Head of Environmental Services advised that the bulky collection service had not changed, and was currently running 3½ weeks in advance on an appointment basis.  The Council had however for a number of years encouraged residents to take their bulky items to furniture stores run by social enterprise organisations.  In the future it was hoped that the Council would enter into a more formal arrangement with these organisations, but at present these organisations did not have the capacity for an increase in volume.  Members’ concerns regarding elderly people would be raised within the department and if there had been a management failure to deal with complaints, the Head of Environmental Services advised that this also would be dealt with.

RESOLVED –That the contents of the report be noted.