This report provided recommendations following a challenge session on contract specification and management in the council (using as a case study the contract with Veolia for environmental services).  The main points of the discussion on this report are outlined below.

• The Committee indicated that they felt that the world had moved on since the original specification had been agreed on this Challenge Session and given the current issues indicated that they would wish to explore those with the officers present.
• The Committee heard that Veolia performance was considered to be very good based upon the available evidence.  However, the Committee indicated that they felt that these figures did not represent the true picture especially with regard to “missed collections”
• The Committee heard that Veolia do report missed collections and that they are open with the way that they are managing the work.
• The Committee heard that the way data is collected is based upon a consistent approach used across London.
• The Committee heard the on a monthly basis there are 250-300 missed bins and that there is no evidence to show that there is a large scale failure to deliver the service.
• The Committee heard that Veolia are surveying residents on the contamination of re-cycling bins and heard that Veolia’s Outreach Team run educational programmes and crews give feedback on contaminated bins.  The Committee heard that there is a large churn of residents moving in and out of LBTH and the message needs to re-run on a regular basis.
• The Committee heard that there were issues with how waste from social housing is managed and that there is an on-going dialogue through the Public Realm Sub Group and the Housing Providers.  In addition, the Social Housing Providers are in a dialogue with LBTH on the provision of a more holistic service e.g. possible delivery of such services via a social enterprise.
• The Committee heard that if somebody calls to report a missed collection this is logged separately from complaints and is treated as a Service Request.  Therefore, the Committee asked that the figures for Service Requests and the Complaints are provided together in any future report to the Committee.
• The Committee heard that if there is a repetition of missed collections then it is recorded as a complaint.  Also if a missed collection is not rectified within 24 hours or there is a repetition this will be escalated and a fine would be levied against Veolia.
• The Committee heard that it is in the interest of Veolia to provide a good service as they want to receive good references from LBTH when they made application to run contracts in other public service areas.
• The Committee stated that it wanted all collections treated as complaints and that those making the complaint are advised of the progress.
• The Committee heard of instances where crews had dropped waste and wanted to know why this was not being rectified.
• The Committee heard that Public Realm were happy to look at the instances of poor levels of service and noted that staff will be dismissed for such poor delivery of the service.
• The Committee heard that there is also an issue with the storage and collection of waste and that the Street Care Team is working with Veolia to address the level of service being provided.
• The Committee heard of instances where people travel into LBTH to deposit unwanted items rather than take such items to their local waste disposal site.  In addition, the Committee was advised that residents in Chadwell House Street now leave lollipop sticks out as a mean to gauge if their street is being cleaned.  Public Realm was asked to take this situation up with Veolia.
• The Committee heard that the majority of the Borough is clean and that Waste Enforcement Officers do investigate when there are report instances of high levels of detritus’s or poor service.  However, the increasing density of the population in Tower Hamlets means that there are issues especially where there are flats and or HMO’s that have no waste storage.
• The Committee indicated that they felt that street cleanliness was poor and that residents did not get an adequate response if they lodged a complaint; it was not clear how repeat situations were monitored and the levels of dog fouling were not acceptable.
• The Committee heard that dog waste is an ASB issue especially for Wheel Chair and Buggy Users and Public Realm works closely with the Animal Warden Service to address this issue by establishing an on-going dialogue with residents.
• The Committee heard that the specification of the contract was drafted in 2002/03 when LBTH was a very different place and a new contract was now needed with tighter specifications to reflect the increased population density.
• The Committee indicated that it would wish to be involved in the drafting of any new specification.
• The Committee stated that it wanted to see the figures on what percentage of street cleansing and waste management is subject to regular monitoring.  The Committee also raised concerns regarding removal of White Goods; Tyres and Mattresses.
• The Committee indicated that it would wish to see the Service Head - Public Realm and Head of Strategy Regeneration & Sustainability work together to resolve these issues.
• The Committee noted that in the procurement exercises for any new contract LBTH would use external advisers with extensive experience of running such services from the provider side.
• The Committee heard that in the past White Goods; Tyres and Mattresses went to Land Fill but now only 9% of the Borough’s waste goes to land fill sites with the remainder now being incinerated.  Therefore, White Goods; Tyres and Mattresses have to be removed by specialist contactors.

As a result of consideration of this report the Committee indicated that there were a number of concerns as outlined above regarding the contract and that they wished to discuss these with the Chief Executive of Veolia at a future meeting.

Accordingly, the Chair Moved and it was:-

RESOLVED

1. To agree the draft report and the recommendations contained in it;
2. To authorised the Service Head for Strategy & Equality to amend the draft report before submission to Cabinet for consideration after consultation with the scrutiny review group; and
3. That Chief Executive of Veolia attends a future meeting of this committee to discuss their concerns as outlined above.