Councillor David Edgar (Cabinet Member for Environment); Dan Jones (Divisional Director, Public Realm); and Mark Griffin (Waste Mobilisation Advisor PR – Clean and Green) gave a presentation to the Committee regarding the creation of an in-house service for the integrated delivery of waste, recycling and cleansing functions for the 29th March 2020. The main points of the discussions on the report may be summarised as follows:

The Committee:

·         Noted that good progress is being made on procurement activities across fleet and contingency arrangements have been established with Veolia. With leasing and spot hire procurement a priority to enable a smooth transition from Veolia’s fleet to a new Council fleet.

·         Noted that steps have been taken steps to replace the Councils older more polluting vehicles with ones that met the requirements of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and to put in place an electric charging infrastructure. Smaller vehicles on the fleet will be leased for up to 3 years and during that time that will allow LBTH to look at replacing those vehicles with other electric or other clean technology vehicles.

·         Noted that there are issues with Euro 6 vehicles blowing filters but this can be addressed by effective maintenance and specific details can provide to the Committee.

·         Noted that (i) consultation with Veolia staff and trade union representatives is well advanced and has been positive; and (ii) practical arrangements for staff checks, inductions; training and employees’ terms and conditions with the creation of the in-house service are being finalized.

·         Was supportive of this project and encouraged to see work being done to keep Veolia to the contract.

·         Asked how (a) LBTH will ensure that performance improves and (b) will scrutiny be kept updated on progress.  In response it was noted that the performance management information using (i) visual inspections; (ii) residents reports; (iii) staff targets (iv) staff feedback; (v) more resources for Street Cleansing; and (vi) a new IT systems will all provide better information to enable a thorough analysis of performance.

·         Wanted more information on the environment impact of the new vehicle fleet.

·         Noted that there would be a review of the service 6 months after the establishment of the in-house service.

The Chair Moved and it was:

RESOLVED to:

1.    Request more information on the environmental impact of the new vehicle fleet.

2.    Undertake a scrutiny review of the service 6 months after the establishment of the in-house service; and

3.    Receive an update after 6 months on the employees’ terms and conditions following the formation of the in-house service.