Agenda item

To report on the latest performance statistics for waste, recycling and street cleansing.

Zoe Robertson, from the Commercial and Operations Service, reported on current performance in respect of waste, recycling and street cleansing. The Panel noted the following;

·         Street sweeping had met performance targets for the last two quarters following a deterioration in performance that had occurred when the frequency of sweeps had been reduced from twice to once weekly;

·         After a short period shortly after changes being implemented when performance had dipped, targets for detritus had consistently met relevant targets;

·         The changes had also not led to a significant increase in complaints.  It was possible that ward walkabouts had assisted with this by helping to identify issues at an early stage;

·         There had been a sustained increase in satisfaction levels amongst residents over a number of years.  This had peaked last year but was still high despite a recent drop.  It was possible that the drop was due to the changes to services that had been introduced last year;

·         Graffiti levels remained low;

·         Figures for fly posting had improved substantially since business cards had been removed from monitoring;

·         There had been a reduction in reported fly tipping since October.  The reduction had come about from fewer reports being received from Veolia.  There had been no specific change in how the Council was addressing the issue.  The figures were being monitored very closely and the intention was to reduce fly tipping by half.

The Panel noted that a wide range of streets were inspected by staff for monitoring performance and these were chosen at random. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign had been brought in to assist with monitoring and help train staff.  Veolia also undertook their own monitoring.  Inspections were done on the day of the sweep.

In respect of fly tipping, the Cabinet Member reported that a lot of effort had been put into reducing levels.  It was acknowledged that there was a problem within the borough but part of this was due to the fact that Haringey was conscientious in recording fly tips.  It was noted that there was no standardised way of recording fly tips.  Panel Members felt that there was a need to ensure that a strong message was provided to all residents that fly tipping was unacceptable.  The Cabinet Member felt that engagement with local residents was important.  Following the Team Noel Park pilot, residents in Noel Park were now taking a greater level of responsibility and this had led to higher levels of reporting. 

Panel Members felt that there was a hard core of offenders who were responsible for a large amount of fly tipping.  These were often houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).  The Panel noted that a new licensing scheme for landlords was due to be introduced shortly.  There was a list of the top 10 fly tipping hotspots in the borough.  Consideration was being undertaken on suitable further action to be taken in respect of such problematic sites.  Hotspots were not just indentified through data and Councillors were also able to feed in their concerns. Eubert Malcolm, Head of Community Safety and Enforcement, reported that each cluster of wards now had its own enforcement manager.  In addition, Veolia also had Village Managers for each area of the borough.                                                                                                                             

The Panel noted that levels of missed refuse collections were meeting targets.  In respect of recycling, the Panel noted that performance had been affected by a higher percentage of loads being rejected due to contamination following a change in government regulations.  This had impacted on all local authorities.  The presence of a small amount of contamination could now result in entire loads being rejected.  A 36.5% rate of recycling had been achieved last year compared with 37% for the year before.  There was a target of 41% for this year but only 36.3% had so far been achieved.  A recycling action plan was being developed. 

AGREED:

That the Director of Commercial and Operations be requested to circulate details of Veolia’s Village Managers to all ward Councillors