The Waste Collections Manager and Operational Community Safety Manager will be in attendance to provide the Panel with an overview in relation to:-
· Bulky waste collections
· Fly tipping collections
Minutes:
C Coverdale,
Environment Services Manager, P Salt, Waste Collections Manager and D Metcalfe,
Operational Community Safety Manager, were in attendance to provide Members
with further information in relation to bulky wate collections and fly tipping
collections.
Bulky
Waste Collections
The
Panel was informed that the Council operated a bulky waste collection service
(sometimes referred to as ‘junk jobs’) for Middlesbrough residents for waste
that did not fit inside a residential wheeled bin.
Examples
of bulky waste items included: furniture, such as beds and sofas; electrical
items and white goods, such as TVs, washing machines, microwaves, fridges,
freezers, etc.
There
was currently a two-tier service in operation – one providing collections free
of charge, and a paid for service ensuring a quicker collection time, known as
the premium bulky waste collection service.
The
wait time for the free of charge collection service was up to 12 weeks at peak
times, however, the service had been suspended for the last two months due to
resource issues with vehicles.
The
wait times for the premium service varied but, on average was up to three
weeks, however, there was currently only a one week wait time due to low take
up.
The
charges for the premium services were as follows:-
·
£22.50
for up to 5 items
·
£45.00
for up to 10 items
·
£67.50
for up to 15 items
·
All
prices were dependent on weight
For
both bulky waste and premium bulky waste collections, residents were provided
with a collection date and advice on how to present the items for collection
from the front of their property and asked to leave out by 7.00am on the day of
collection. For example, glass must be
taped, bubble-wrapped, or smashed up and placed in a securely taped box.
Residents
were advised that collection teams were not allowed to enter homes to remove,
or help to remove, items and had to make separate collections for electrical
and non-electrical items due to environmental legislation and the use of
different vehicles to collect such items.
Currently,
electrical items were collected on Wednesdays and Fridays and non-electrical
items were collected on Wednesdays from South and West Middlesbrough and on
Fridays from North and East Middlesbrough.
Mattresses
had to be collected separately by another vehicle and if a resident wished to
have a mattress collected, no other bulky waste items could be collected at the
same time. Mattress collections were
made fortnightly on Mondays (except Bank Holidays) and a maximum of three per
property could be collected. It was
highlighted that a total of 50 mattress collections were made on the last
mattress collection round and it was a very popular service.
During
the course of discussion, the following issues were raised:-
·
In
response to a query it was clarified that items were differentiated between at
the point of booking when full details of the items to be collected would be
taken from the resident. This would
determine the collection date(s) for the items depending on what they
were. The majority of bookings were for
furniture items, electrical goods and mattresses.
·
It
was acknowledged that the budget proposals included introducing a charge for
all bulky waste collections and it was queried whether it was anticipated that
there would be any impact on the service.
Members were advised that it was not expected to have an adverse impact
on the service as generally residents were willing to pay for the service. Advice was also provided to residents
regarding considering donating items to charities, such as FRADE, where
possible. It was also highlighted that
the service had previously incurred a charge for collections prior to the free
service being introduced and that had always operated successfully.
·
A
Panel Member queried whether, with such long waiting times for the free
service, whether it was difficult to distinguish between items that had been
placed for collection and items that had been fly-tipped. The Environment Manager stated that residents
were provided with an appointment date and time (either morning or afternoon)
and were advised not to place items for collection until collection day. In cases where suspected fly-tipping was
being investigated, the enforcement team would always check to find out whether
a bulky waste collection request had been made from that address.
·
In
response to a query as to how the charges were set, the Panel was advised that
the more items there were to dispose of, the greater the waste disposal costs
were and Middlesbrough’s charges were comparable with other local authorities. Fees and charges were set by full Council
following consultation and the current charges for bulky waste collections were
set a number of years ago but were usually based on comparisons with
neighbouring authorities. In addition,
the weight of the items to be disposed of and sorting to be sent to various
disposal streams was taken into account.
·
When
asked whether providing the service was cost effective, the Panel was advised
that approximately £22,000 was generated from the service last year, however,
it cost around £128,000 to provide the service.
·
Reference
was made to licensed waste contractors and it was confirmed that they were
generally much cheaper than the Council, however, residents needed to ensure
that they used a licensed carrier.
·
It
was acknowledged that a better balance needed to be struck in terms of
operating an affordable service for residents that the Council could afford to
operate. It was more cost effective to
collect the items as bulky waste collections than to have to collect as
fly-tipping.
·
It
was queried how Middlesbrough’s bulky waste service compared with other Tees
Valley local authorities. The Panel was
informed that the number of requests/booking made for the bulky collection
service in Middlesbrough was very comparable with the other authorities. It was further highlighted that currently
Middlesbrough was the only authority in the Tees Valley that operated a free of
charge service.
·
It
was recognised that stopping the free of charge service was one of the budget
proposals and that this could potentially have a short term impact of a slight
increase in fly-tipping, however, education work around the consequences of
fly-tipping and using unlicensed waste carriers would need to increase.
·
A
Panel Member queried whether educational information in relation to recycling
and fly-tipping was available in languages other than English. It was highlighted that there were a number
of leaflets and other promotional information that had been translated into
other languages, however, there were currently around 35 different languages
spoken in Newport Ward alone so it could be a challenge. The Cohesion and Migration Team were able to
go out into communities and could work with charities in areas with a high
private rented sector and temporary accommodation population. In addition, some of the Council’s street
wardens spoke different languages and were able to communicate within
communities.
Fly-Tipping
Collections
The
Panel was advised that the Environmental Enforcement Team, comprising of a
Senior Warden; seven Environmental Wardens and six Area Care Operatives, was
co-located within the Neighbourhood Safety and Street Warden Service. The Team was responsible for clearing and
investigating fly-tipping using a ‘sort it not report it’ approach.
As
well as focussing on fly-tipping, the Team’s other duties included:-
·
waste
presentation (how bins/waste was presented for collection).
·
checks
on commercial businesses to ensure they had the correct waste disposal
arrangements in place (the Council was able to prosecute if this was not the
case).
·
Abandoned
vehicles (untaxed vehicles could be seized).
·
Stray
dogs (not dangerous dogs)
·
Littering
·
Enforcement
of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) (currently in place for the TS1
area).
·
Fly-posting
(illegal advertising).
The
Team had a range of tools and powers available to them depending on the issue
being investigated. This included
provision of advice and/or guidance; issuing informal or formal warnings; issue
of fixed penalty notices; prosecution.
The
Team worked closely with the Council’s Legal Service to ensure that the most
appropriate tool for each situation was used.
It was highlighted that the Team dealt with criminal matters and needed
to ensure that the standard of evidence for criminal matters was met. Members were notified that the Council’s
Enforcement Policy was in the process of being updated.
During
the course of discussion, the following issues were raised:-
·
In
response to a query, Members were informed that the Team was located within the
neighbourhood teams already, each having designated areas, allowing them to get
to know people within the community, the area itself, and local Ward
Councillors.
·
Reference
was made to The Crown building on the corner of Borough Road and Linthorpe Road
and it was stated that many complaints had been received about the current
condition of the building and immediate area.
The Panel was advised that the building had been cordoned off for safety
reasons and that cleansing operatives were not allowed within the cordon in
order to clean. The Head of Community
Safety advised that she would make enquiries and report back to Members.
·
A
Panel Member queried the collection of mattresses from alleyways, stating that
they often appeared to be there for months without being collected. The Operational Manager advised that this was
often due to the weight of the mattress.
If the mattress had been put outside and it rained, it could weight up
to 300kg and was impossible to move, therefore, they had to be left to
completely dry out before they could be removed.
The
Chair thanked the Officers for their attendance and the information provided.
AGREED that
the information be noted and considered in the context of the Panel’s current
scrutiny topic of Waste Management.