Agenda item
Additional street cleansing savings
The reasons for the call in are:-
1. To allow public discussion and scrutiny of these proposals, which have not been subject to a public consultation (either these new proposals, or the original proposals to reduce street cleansing services), allowing alternative proposals to be developed.
2. To further consider the risk associated with on-going negotiations with Veolia and the possibility of their failure which may necessitate further reductions in the street cleansing service.
Suggested action for the Call in Overview and Scrutiny Committee to take:-
1. To consider whether alternative options to the single set of proposals put before the Executive could be developed.
2. For the Executive to consult on the proposed changes to Street Cleansing Services to ensure adequate democratic oversight has been carried out.
The Executive report is attached.
The Lead Member and Lead Officer are invited to the meeting to respond to Members’ questions.
Minutes:
The reasons for the call in were:-
1. To allow public discussion and scrutiny of these proposals, which have not been subject to a public consultation (either these new proposals, or the original proposals to reduce street cleansing services), allowing alternative proposals to be developed.
2. To further consider the risk associated with on-going negotiations with Veolia and the possibility of their failure which may necessitate further reductions in the street cleansing service.
Suggested action for the Call in Overview and Scrutiny Committee to take:-
1. To consider whether alternative options to the single set of proposals put before the Executive could be developed.
2. For the Executive to consult on the proposed changes to Street Cleansing Services to ensure adequate democratic oversight has been carried out.
Councillor Lorber referred to the reasons for the call in of this item as set out in the agenda and expressed concern that the proposals represented the second reduction in the street cleaning budget this year and that this would impact upon the ability to maintain clean streets. He felt it was desirable to continue with the present street cleansing arrangements and he enquired whether any alternative options had been considered.
Councillor Powney (Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods) was then invited to respond to the stated reasons for call in. Councillor Powney began by explaining that the savings included in the proposals were part of the council’s wider savings target of £100m in the next four years. He stated that there had been considerable public discussion and scrutiny of the proposals and he did not think there was a serious risk to securing a desirable agreement with the contractor, Veolia. Councillor Powney suggested that it would be both imprudent and unrealistic to enter into further public consultation whilst negotiations with Veolia were ongoing. Furthermore, reopening consultation would lengthen these negotiations and delay the savings the council was looking to make.
During discussion by Members, Councillor Lorber commented that there had been extensive consultation prior to the waste management and street cleansing contract agreed in 2007 and the views expressed by the residents had influenced the nature of the contract. He suggested that the present proposals reversed many initiatives that residents had supported. Clarification was sought with regard to the change in frequency of sweeps as set out in item 3.3 of the report and what streets were classified as Zone 5 and why these changes were not going to be introduced at the same time as the proposed changes as set out in 3.10 of the report. It was queried what the implications would be in respect of the reduced weekend day service. Councillor Lorber asked what steps would be taken to ensure that the regular sweeps would include cleaning away leaf fall. Officers were asked to comment if there were any risk in the proposals in terms of not meeting duties with regard to the Environmental Act and associated legislation and what were the implications if reports from Keep Britain Tidy indicated that performance was dipping. Councillor Lorber suggested that reducing street sweeps would inevitably result in an increase in complaints and he asked how this would be addressed in terms of the standards set by the council. He felt that the views of the public had not been sufficiently sought with regard to the proposals and that alternatives should be explored. Councillor Lorber also enquired about the costs of providing a free bulky waste removal service and felt that there should be a re-consideration as to whether this should remain a priority.
Councillor Kabir stated that she had some concerns in respect of the reduction in street cleansing frequency and the potential environmental impact these would have, however she expressed satisfaction that the proposals avoided redundancies. She sought further details with regard to possible alternative options. Councillor H B Patel commented that the savings were larger than initially proposed and he sought more details as to how this could be achieved through agreement with Veolia. The implications of not reaching an agreement were also sought. Councillor H B Patel stated that falling leaves could present a real hazard with the possibility of increased accidents because of more leaves lying on the streets due to less road sweeps and he asked how this would be addressed.
Councillor Gladbaum asked why there was to be no Member involvement with regard to seeking further cost reductions with Veolia. An update with regard to the negotiations taking place between Veolia and the council with regard to waste collection arrangements and the forecast £410k shortfall for 2011/12 was sought. Councillor Gladbaum enquired whether the changes to clearing up of leaf fall would include parks and other public open spaces. She also asked whether both statutory and non-statutory consultation would take place with regard to the changes to the street cleansing service.
The Chair asked whether a consultation was a requirement because the proposals included a reduction in service. He sought views as to whether further savings to the contract may be proposed in future and also asked for a comparison between the cost of the contract upon commencement and what the current cost was. The Chair also commented that a lot of residents may not be aware of the changes and that the reduction in service may lead to increased complaints from them and he stressed the importance that councillors were made fully aware of the implications of the changes.
With the approval of the Chair, Councillor S Choudhary addressed the committee. Councillor S Choudhary commented that the geographical factors of various locations in the borough needed to be taken into account with regard to leaf fall, especially in areas of high tree density and he asked what steps were being taken to address this.
In reply to the issues raised, Michael Read (Assistant Director - Policy and Regulation, Environment and Neighbourhood Services) advised that the budget with regard to street cleansing had been agreed at the Council meeting on 28 February 2011. He advised that zone 5 streets were mainly residential and that as part of the street cleansing budget, it had been proposed to reduce the frequency of sweeps to once a week for these streets. This had been proposed because the refuse and recycling savings were unable to deliver short term savings due to the costs involved in buying new vehicles and bins, however these would achieve the desired savings in the longer term. The changes to the street cleansing service as set out in tables one and two in the report were not undertaken simultaneously as sweeps of zone five streets was a priced item and did not require negotiations with Veolia, resulting in these changes being agreed in October 2010 and implemented in March 2011. The proposed changes in table two involved negotiations with Veolia and those detailed reflected the outcome of these negotiations to date. Members heard that leaf sweeps were now to be included as part of the regular sweeps and Michael Read advised that discussions with Veolia were taking place to ensure that the appropriate supervision was in place to ensure that this happened. He explained that the current arrangements meant that the leaf sweep was an addition to the usual road sweeps, however it was not felt that the £76k costs involved in providing this were justifiable in terms of the extra value it provided in the context of the savings that were required. Members noted in respect of waste collection and recycling, the shortfall of £410k for 2011/12 budget had been anticipated as a one-off shortfall and this is why additional savings from street cleansing were sought. Members noted that the budget requirements for 2012/13 and subsequent years would be met.
Chris Whyte (Head of Environment Management, Environment and Neighbourhood Services) confirmed that the ceasing of afternoon service at weekends meant that there would be no cleansing activity after 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays across all zones and the cleansing service at weekends would be less comprehensive than previously. In respect of the Wembley Stadium area, this was the responsibility of Wembley National Stadium Limited, whilst events at the Stadium were covered by separate operational arrangements. Members noted that zone 2 covered outlying shopping parades and local shopping centres. Chris Whyte advised that the council was no longer bound by the same environmental targets, however the Environmental Protection Act 1990 still needed to be adhered to. Veolia would remain bound by the agreed performance framework in respect of the contract and council inspections of the work undertaken would remain. In addition, Keep Britain Tidy would continue to undertake surveys and provide reports, however the council would not face any sanctions if the reports suggested standards were dropping, but this would be used for the council’s information purposes. Veolia were also required to meet the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Code of Practice in relation to environmental matters. Chris Whyte added that although reducing the frequency of sweeps may potentially lead to cleansing standards dropping, the new provisions had been carefully thought through to minimise impact and to focus on areas which needed particular attention.
Chris Whyte advised that the cost of the waste management and street cleansing contract had been £14.1 million at the start of the contract in 2007. The introduction of compulsory recycling had required extra resources and had been the main reason why the cost had risen and there had also been increases in terms of the annual index. It was noted that the bulky waste removal service raised income of around £60k-£70k a year before charges had been dropped and the cost of providing a free service was £300k.
Councillor Powney advised that leaf fall collection contributed only a very small proportion to recycling. The changes to leaf collection and sweep frequency were due to financial necessity, however it was not perceived that health and safety would be compromised. Councillor Powney felt that a desirable agreement could be made in negotiations with Veolia and he and the Leader of the Council were due to meet Veolia on 15 August. He suggested that a briefing on street cleansing and recycling matters could be provided to councillors. The present contract was due to end in 2014 and there would be opportunities to seek improvements, which may include additional savings, for the new contract. Councillor Powney also explained that parks came under a different service area, however he would ensure that officers inform Councillor Gladbaum what the leaf fall collection arrangements would be for these locations.
Fiona Ledden (Director of Legal and Procurement) advised that a significant change to the service required consultation. In this case, the proposals included smaller changes with regard to the detail of some parts of the service and therefore consultation would not be a compulsory requirement.
Councillor Lorber expressed concern on the impact of a further reduction in street cleansing frequency and changes to leaf fall sweeps, whilst he also felt that the views of the public had not been sufficiently sought on the proposals. He put forward a recommendation to the committee that the Executive re-consider the proposals to reduce zone 5 street sweeps to once per week and the changes to leaf fall sweeps in view of the implications of these changes. The committee decided not to agree to this recommendation.
RESOLVED:-
that upon considering the report from the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services, the decisions made by the Executive be noted.
Supporting documents: