This report provides a summary of performance on the Medway waste contracts and performance for the contract year October 2020 to September 2021:
Veolia Environmental Services - providing waste disposal services for residual and recycling waste.
Medway Norse – providing waste collection, street cleaning services and management of Medway's Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC).
Minutes:
Discussion:
The Committee received a report setting out a summary of performance on the following Medway waste contracts for the contract year October 2020 to September 2021:
· Veolia Environmental Services – providing waste disposal services for residual and recycling waste.
· Medway Norse – providing waste collection, street cleaning services and management of Medway’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC)
The following was discussed:
In response, the Head of Climate Response and Environmental Services thanked the Committee for its praise of the weekly waste collection service and advised that both officers and Norse were extremely proud of the service provided. She informed the Committee that officers and Medway Norse were in regular contact with the Council’s Enforcement Team and further work was planned for the future now that things were returning to normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. Joint partnership working continued particularly if there were known hotspots and she suggested that if any Member had an area in their Ward that was known to be a flytipping hotspot, they should report this to officers for investigation.
Melanie Tong from Medway Norse advised that unfortunately, along with many other businesses nationwide, staffing levels at Norse had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for staff to self isolate and, in addition, Norse had been experiencing driver shortages. Whilst Norse aimed to retain a small pool of drivers that could be called upon in times of emergency, a shortage of 15 HGV drivers had impacted the service. To help keep services operational, Managers and Supervisors had been out driving vehicles. She advised that although Norse undertook regular induction sessions in an attempt to increase HGV staff, few resulted in posts being filled.
She confirmed that any underspend on salaries was currently being absorbed by the requirement to pay overtime to staff for additional hours/days.
It was confirmed that litter bin clearance had been a challenge during the pandemic as dog ownership had increased and more people were at home and using local facilities for recreation. Whilst it had not been possible to increase the frequency of litter bin clearance, the possible introduction of additional or larger bins at popular sites was being considered.
The Committee noted that Medway Norse continued to support High Street cleansing and Medway events.
In response Melanie Tong confirmed that Norse had just placed a large order for bin bags to cover the next year. Sadly, it was not possible for Norse to obtain different colour bags as black bags with Norse name printed in green text were the cheapest available on the market. She accepted that this did occasionally create confusion for the public but confirmed that this problem had also arisen when Veolia used grey bags. However, she agreed to investigate the possibility of ensuring an earlier collection time on a Friday so that the bags were not left in situ into the evening or over the weekend.
It was also suggested that the street cleansing team not be restricted to cleansing pavements when it was clear that there was litter in close proximity e.g. alleyways.
In response, the Head of Climate Response and Environmental Services advised that the benefit of moving all services to Norse enabled joined up working of teams. Due to the pandemic, plans to progress joined up working had been delayed but work was now underway to investigate improvements and better ways of working.
The Head of Climate Response and Environmental Services advised that if the pre-booking system was retained, the possibility of booking on the same day would be investigated.
She also advised that the current ‘in cab system’ had been upgraded this week following an 18 month delay due to the pandemic and this would now permit improved communications.
Decision:
The Committee:
a) noted the report and appendices 1 and 2 and expressed appreciation to officers, Veolia and Medway Norse for the services provided.
b) requested that information be provided as to those locations where the possible provision of additional or larger litter bins are being considered.
Supporting documents: