Agenda item

The Veolia Annual Contract Performance Report update was provided by the LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning. Attending representing Veolia was Ben Velman (Regional Manager: Municipal South East). Members were asked to review the report and comment on Veolia's performance.

The LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning stated that the report was focused on three main areas which were:

·  Waste Disposal

·  Waste Collection

·  Street Environment

She was pleased to report that despite difficulties, performance had remained on track. A number of projects had been delivered throughout the year and these were summarised in the report.

The Chairman was impressed by the report and by Veolia’s performance. Mr Velmans clarified that two reports had been presented by Veolia, one was specific to Bromley and the other was a generic corporate sustainability report, which was available on Veolia’s website. Mr Velmans mentioned that Veolia had experienced difficulties because of problems in the labour market caused by Covid 19 and the national shortage of HGV drivers.

A Member pointed out that the table in the report regarding residents’ satisfaction had been conducted at recycling depots and it was only to be expected that surveys of this nature would result in high levels of reported satisfaction. The Member stated that she received hundreds of complaints from households concerning refuse and debris that had been strewn along people’s pathways and roads after collections. She expressed the view that if surveys were conducted directly with households, then the results of the surveys would be far less positive.

Mr Velmans responded and said there were two separate surveys mentioned in the report. One survey reported on visitors’ experience of waste services at recycling sites and the other survey reported on customer satisfaction across all street environment areas which had improved by approximately 1%. He stated that the overall trend was improving and that the street environment surveys were conducted by independent survey companies. The Member responded and said that in her Ward, officers and the Neighbourhood Environmental Team were left to clean up after the mess left by Veolia operatives and so she expressed the view that a household waste service survey was required. The LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning said that surveys always had limitations, and that the Council also monitors enquiries and feedback from residents daily, and last month was the first time that more compliments than complaints for the waste service had been received.  

A Member raised the issue of a road in her ward that extended into Lewisham. She said that issues had been reported with the refuse collection failing to extend to the end of the road. She also supported a residential survey and requested that she be able to speak to someone privately about this matter post meeting. The LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning said that colleagues in Neighbourhood Management would make contact about specific service queries.

A discussion took place concerning the respective recycling rates of Bromley Council and other boroughs. The LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning expressed the view that it was difficult to draw comparisons with other boroughs because there were different demographics that applied to inner city and outer city areas

It was noted that no issues had been raised with respect to wet paper this financial year. This was attributed to two reasons, one was that Veolia had found a different outlet for paper and card recycling and the other reason was because structural repairs had been undertaken at the waste transfer station.

A Member noted the increased recycling undertaken by residents and expressed the view that they should be applauded because they were now recycling more than ever. A Member asked if there were any plans to charge for the collection of cardboard and the Portfolio Holder responded saying that she was not aware of any proposals for this.  The LBB Head of Environmental Strategy, Technical Support and Commissioning clarified that if there had been mention before of possible charging for large cardboard items that were not broken up, it would be dealt with as bulky item collections for which there would be a charge. There was no intention to charge for the collection and recycling of cardboard per se. The Committee was pleased to note that less than 1% of waste was being taken to landfill.

RESOLVED that the Veolia Annual Contract Performance Report be noted.