The current waste contract with Serco would move to a new provider – Urbaser from October 2022. Complaints about the service were monitored by the business support team and then passed to the contract manager’s team. Targeted monitoring could take place of areas where complaints were made. Feedback was given to the contractor where immediate action was required.

In-person monitoring would take place on a number of issues including frequently missed properties, crew compliance, health and safety and ensuring that correct tipping took place at Frog Island. Desktop monitoring covered areas such as Key Performance Indicators, the number of complaints and the use by crews of in-lab technology.

It was accepted that there was a lack of refuse complaints data for 2021 although the corporate complaints process was suspended during the pandemic period. More complaints had been received in 2022, partly due to a shortage of refuse drivers. Complaints often ran parallel to the number of missed collections. These were required to be rectified within 24 hours.

Financal penalties of up to £25k could be applied to the current contractors if Key Performance Indicators were not met. Underperforming crews would also be identified with the contractor. The new contract would integrate waste and street cleansing and a larger monitoring team would be introduced as part of the Target Operating Model. Increased use of technology would allow better reporting of issues by the public. Data would also be used to work more closely with the enforcement team with measures such as the use of GPS or cameras on vehicles.

Targets for the clearance of flytips were being met in nearly every month. Key Performance Indicators would be reviewed in order to have more positive data also reported. The service was aware of the risk of digital exclusion and difficulties with reporting missed collections by phone were a corporate issue.

It was clarified that collection days would remain the same for the first six months of the new contract. The contractor would be able to request changes after this point if necessary. The flow of information from the contractor to residents was expected to be better under the new contract. Any reduction in collection frequency would be a decision for the Council, the contractor would be unable to do this unilaterally.

It was confirmed that the separate tipping of recycling and general waste was monitored at Frog Island. A Member noted that only 1% of general waste at Frog Island went to landfill and felt this message should be publicised more widely. A visit to Frog Island could be arranged for Members and a presentation on how waste was dealt with could be circulated to the Board.

Enforcement of people for example putting refuse bags out too early was now more complex as it was necessary to prove a detriment to the local environment. Levels of financial penalties would be included in the new contract but this had to reflect the level of Council intervention. Officers would confirm the mechanism for calculating penalties in the new contract. Some leeway was given to the contractor at the start of the pandemic but poor collection performance was penalised. The level of fines issued under the current contract could also be confirmed.