Issue - meetings

Members were briefed with the performance overview update for ‘ECS4’ which was in respect of the recycling of household waste. This was rated as ‘amber’. This was below target due to the impacts of the Covid Pandemic. ‘ECS6’ was similar to this and was also amber, figures similarly being affected by the pandemic.

Changes to residents’ lifestyles during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions meant that more people were at home during the daytime. This had resulted in an increase in the amount of residual waste produced per household. It was likely that home clearances and improvement activities also increased during this time which also impacted on the figures.

Members heard that with respect to the arboricultural contract, the required target levels had not been hit. This was due to the seasonal volatility of the work and the need to deal with a backlog. Performance had now improved.

The Chairman said that the borough had experienced disruptive waste collections with the snow and ice that occurred during February. Services had been suspended for several days. He wondered if with hindsight, this was the correct course of action, and if the decisions made had been communicated effectively, and what could the Council do better next time.

Members were informed that the snow and ice caused chaos and serious health and safety issues. The safety of the work force was of first importance and so services were suspended for three days. A discussion took place as to how matters were communicated during this period. The Portfolio Holder pointed out that going forward, the Council would benefit from an enhanced  website which would improve the way the Council communicated with residents. It was also the case that LBB now benefited from an advanced weather forecasting system which was very reliable and perhaps more trust could be placed in their accuracy, rather than waiting for early morning inspections before determining whether collections could occur safely, thus allowing residents to be alerted the day before. 

Part of the discussion relating to communication, concerned whether or not a message concerning collections should have been put on the front page of the Council website, where it would be easy to see. The Communications Executive stated that the waste news website address was well known, and lots of people had looked at this. He said that in terms of the lessons learnt, the Council would be looking to improve the website, and was also looking into text messaging  residents directly.

A Member inquired if refuse teams could have been redirected to the North of the borough which seemed to get less adverse weather conditions. It was noted that an issue making this difficult was that this would have necessitated a comprehensive communications exercise to explain what was happening, so that residents could get their bins out for collection on time.

A Member suggested that emails be sent directly to residents explaining what the default position was, sending out a holding email if necessary. In her ward, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98