Minutes:
Mr Tony Goss addressed the committee regarding street cleansing in Gamlingay, raising the following points:
· Litter picking and mechanical street sweeping was not being undertaken by the Council in Gamlingay. As a resident, Mr Goss undertook voluntary litter picking on a regular basis and was provided with litter bags by the Council.
· Mr Goss had complained to the Council regarding the lack of mechanical street sweeping in Gamlingay, and had also volunteered to undertake this himself were it possible for the Council to provide use of a mechanical street sweeper. Mr Goss last complained to the Council in January 2015 but had not received a response.
The Director of Health and Environmental Services, Mike Hill, responded to the points raised by Mr Goss. A written response would also be provided:
· Mr Hill apologised for the lack of response to Mr Goss’ complaint which had been received by the Council in January 2015.
· Mr Hill explained that the ten biggest villages were targeted for street sweeping and was confident that street sweeping had taken place in Gamlingay within the last year but would get in touch with Mr Goss following the meeting with further detail.
· Interviews had taken place on 13 May 2015 to recruit street sweeping staff to the Council. These staff would be trained to use the mechanical street sweepers in due course and Mr Hill would look into whether local volunteers such as Mr Goss, could be trained along with new Council staff in the use of the mechanical street sweepers.
· Mr Hill informed Mr Goss that staff shortages had been an issue for the service and that due to staff vacancies and recent high levels of staff sickness, street sweepers had not seen much use since December 2014. Due to recent high levels of staff sickness, vital services such as waste collection had been prioritised with staff moved over to cover this service. This had resulted in less street sweeping being undertaken.
Mr Goss thanked Mr Hill for his response and was pleased to hear that action was being taken. He assured Mr Hill that Gamlingay had not been mechanically street swept for a year.
Councillor Hickford requested that Parish Councils be informed when the Council’s waste collection and street cleansing services were experiencing difficulty, so that communities could be informed.
The resilience of the waste collection and street cleansing services was queried. Mr Hill assured the committee that in normal circumstances the service was very resilient, with staff trained to undertake multiple tasks so that various functions within the service could be covered by other members of staff. The committee was informed that three new drivers had been recruited and two loaders would be undertaking driver training. The levels of staff sickness experienced in the last three months had been unusual, with one day seeing 20 staff absences due to sickness.
Councillor Lynda Harford informed Mr Hill and colleagues that she had not experienced any complaints from residents with regards to waste collection and street cleansing services, until recently when staff sickness levels were very high.
Councillor Anna Bradnam queried whether recent efficiencies made to the service had led to the recent problems, with concern that staff levels had dropped below a manageable level. Mr Hill assured Councillor Bradnam and the committee that this was not the case and that with the changes being implemented to the service merging with City Council waste collection services, operational staffing levels had remained the same with only senior management team members needing to reapply for their jobs. The senior management team had been reduced by one post.
The committee was informed that litter picking along the A14 and other major trunk roads was contracted out. Extra litter picking took place along the A14 once a year when vegetation had been cut back, making litter more visible. Whilst this work was contracted out it was monitored closely by the Council.