Fines against fly-tippers and the ongoing challenge of recruiting bin lorry crews amid high wages in the delivery industry was highlighted at a Rossendale Council committee meeting.

There were also updates on household bins and business waste collections, which were generally welcomed by councillors.

But difficulties in recruiting bin lorry crews because of high wages in other transport industries was raised during questions about a £256,000 budget over-spend linked to using temporary agency workers to fill the gaps.

Patrick Killeen, Rossendale Council’s Head of Operations, gave an update on  waste, recycling and street cleaning services to councillors at the latest Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting. He said key performance indicators (KPIs) were introduced to help meet targets.

Mr Killeen gave various statistics to illustrate the scale of waste operations across Rossendale. These included around 850,000 household bin collections and 3,000 bulky waste collections last year. Records were kept about daily activities including missed bins and calls from the public. Help is also offered to people who struggle to put out their bins, known as assisted collections, he said.

He said: “We are trying to improve recycling rates, looking a national legislation and awaiting a white paper from the government. We are also doing more on fly-tipping and trying to maximise revenue by collecting business waste.

“We have meetings with bin crews to make sure they understand their role. There have been some issues with cars blocking streets, meaning the bin wagons cannot get through, and also bins not being put out for collection. We’re also looking at street cleaning and getting more new litter bins.

“Missed bins has been a hot topic. The figure of 300 per month looks quite large but it’s actually a small proportion. We  have quite good performance figures compared with other local authorities. ”

Labour Coun Michelle Smith said: “If you listen to the public, you’d think it was a massive problem. But perhaps not? Is it repeat-offenders who leave their cars blocking the streets?”

Mr Killeen said: “It can be. We write to residents to remind them. That tends to have a positive impact. But some people become difficult and won’t accept it’s a problem.

“We also explain why bins haven’t been collected. The wagons have CCTV cameras which can show if bins have not been left out. We can pin-point specific days and crews.”

On costs. Conservative group leader Coun David Foxcroft asked about using agencies to fill bin crew vacancies and a £256,000 overspend.

Mr Killeen said: “Using agencies is a significant spend. We’ve still got two vacancies to fill and need to decide if we continue using agencies or recruit? Getting new staff is really challenging.

“A lot of drivers can get more money driving a brand-new truck up-and-down the motorway. I’ve heard some ridiculous amounts of money being quoted. Some big companies are giving really good wages and we’ve found it a challenge. Our bin wagon drivers and crews are out there in all weathers.”

Work on the roof of a recycling bay was now complete and this would help reduce reliance on agency staff, he said.

In other work, he said Rossendale Council dealt with an average of 100 fly-tipping incidents per month. The target response time was five days but, in fact, the average response time was four days. Sometimes there could be problems with access to land or ownership of land where fly-tipping had happened.”

He added: “We are working with the public protection unit and legal department to take the necessary action where possible. ”

Coun Andy MacNae said report was excellent. He also asked about the impact of fines on fly-tipping: “There was a drop in fly-tipping between November and December and a large increase in fixed penalty notices. Is that cause and effect? ”

Mr Killeen replied: “It could be. If we take action, the message does get out. People tend to move on.”

Conservative Coun Laura Beth Thompson said: “I can see we have increased the number of commercial waste collections from 360 to 450 in the past 12 months. Do you think this will keep increasing at that rate? But elsewhere,  bulky waste collections have fallen by about 350. Is there a reason for that? ”

Mr Killeen said: “We are writing to all businesses, asking about their commercial waste arrangements. We are reasonably confident that commercial collections will grow but perhaps not at that rate.

“I think bulky-waste (household) collections have reduced because people are feeling the pinch. That’s a paid-for service and they are unwilling to pay. ”

 

Conservative Coun Granville Morris said: “I have to congratulate the teams on their work. However, there are historic problems with cross-contamination of bins and with lids left open. This  gives a bad perception of the valley and can also lead to fly-tipping.

“We used to put tape on cross-contaminated bins to make it clear to the public what the problem was. But I haven’t seen that done recently. Education is a fundamental issue.

“The other problem is overflowing bins in parks and town centres at weekends. We try to make our parks stand-out but they are standing out for the wrong reasons. Do you have enough people for this?”

Mr Killeen said: “We have limited resources. However, we try to look at weather forecasts and empty bins in target areas at earlier points, if we can. Some new bins will have larger capacities too. ”

Meanwhile, a test scheme offering bin cleaning services will be ended. Mr Killeen said it was not a significant source of income. A ‘man with a van’ could do  it more cheaply. The council’s focus should be on large-scale waste management.

On an environmental theme, Labour Coun Annie McMahon said: “Can you explain what the plans are for household food waste? Where will it go or will people do their own compost?”

But Mr Killeen said the borough was waiting for direction from Lancashire County Council and the government.