Members will receive an update on the Waste Services Performance.

The received a presentation from Councillor Asma Islam - Cabinet Member for Environment and Public Realm; Dan Jones - Divisional Director, Public Realm; and Richard Williams - Business Manager Operational Services that provided an update on the Waste Services Performance since the ending of the previous contract and the Service coming back in house and highlighted  the challenges and successes since March, 2020. The main points arising from the discussion on the presentation are summarised below:

The Committee:

1. Asked to what extent if at all does the Service consider the reduced amount of complaints about missed bin collections is down to Covid and what are the barriers that still remain between residents reporting missed collections and that being picked up?
2. Noted that overall, one of the biggest advantages that the Service has now is that it can see more clearly details of complaints that could not be seen before. Therefore, the Service can now target complaints more effectively and has been very effective at resolving issues and is now seeing a reduction in overall number of complaints.
3. Noted that the focus is now on tackling repeat complaints and complaints at crew level with a focus weekly on the reduction in complaints.
4. Noted that the Service is now able to focus on complaints at ward; estate and crew level which was possible before and would like to share such data with councillors if they have particular concerns.
5. Noted that the major impact of Covid for the Service has been where regular staff are absent due to illness and/or self-isolation.
6. Noted that the Service put in some very early measures to be able to keep the crews safe and have continued to adapt.  However, there has been a cost increase the biggest impact being where the Service has to bring in agency staff which has had an impact on completion of work because agency staff are not as familiar with the way LBTH undertakes waste collections.
7. Noted that the Service is developing an Action Plan and Ward based Action Days to address issues that have been raised e.g. Whitechapel; Weavers; and St. Peters Wards where there have been high levels of street cleansing complaints.  The Service is looking at targeting hot spots to understand exactly the nature of the difficulties e.g. service design; people not understanding what they should do with their waste or that people are fly tipping.
8. Noted the Service is looking at if better information is needed for residents and businesses and in some cases taking enforcement action e.g. the Service has been taken action over the last few weeks to target issues around illegal fly-tipping and they plan to continue with this targeted approach. As well as having a very focused look at cleansing standards and service design.
9. Noted that the Service is currently experiencing an exceptionally high demand for bulk waste collections which has led to fly-tipping in some areas.  However, the Service is (i) working to ensure that the three bulk waste collection teams  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7