The Assistant Director (Operations) and Regulatory Services Manager presented the Committee with an update against the Performance Management Framework, as introduced within the council’s Corporate Plan, for Quarter Three 2021-22 (October to December 2021).

The officers went through each policy commitment in turn and provided an update on what activity had and/or would be delivered in order to successfully realise the policy commitments. The following comments were made by the officers during the update:

PI 3 – The Health and Safety incidents have remained low at 6 incidents in Q3 and these are due to accidents including slips and trips and a keg being dropped on someone’s foot.

PI 4 – At the previous Committee, the Regulatory Services Manager assured the Committee that the percentage of compliant food establishments would increase when we finally came out of the pandemic. The Food Hygiene Team are now back to pre-covid levels of compliance and are inspecting more businesses.

PI 5 – The Environmental Health Teams are giving a first response to customers within five days in 99% of cases. 

The Chair expressed his thanks on what an exceptional job the Environment Health Team do within the borough.

PI 9 – Residual waste has continued to increase and recycling has dropped slightly compared to last year.  The council took a pragmatic view on waste collection during the pandemic compared to other authorities and understood more people were working from home and had collected extra waste.

The council is now reverting back to, before the pandemic, where any side waste that is presented will receive a bin hanger on the bins. The Crews will report the issue which will generate a first letter to the resident to inform them of what they should be doing in the future with their waste.

A similar system is in operation regarding any contamination within the recycling bins and the system will generate a letter to residents explaining what they should have happened with that waste.

The Team is working with both primary and secondary schools to educate and work with the children regarding waste and recycling. The council is looking at trialling a digital newsletter that the school can send out to parents with information about recycling, waste and the effects of climate change. 

As previously reported, the on-the-go bins have become really popular and they are going to be rolled out in Higham.

Increased recycling initiatives in conjunction with the Housing Team in reviewing the waste collections from housing sites.  Reviews have been done on the whole site to make it easier for residents and for them to have a better understanding on what they should be doing and this will hopefully reduce fly-tipping.

Following questions and comments from Members, the Assistant Director (Operations)explained that:

• With regards to the bins sensors the data is only just being reviewed.  When the trial started, the Crews were instructed to continue as normal so there was comparable data.  The team have now started only emptying the bins when needed which is going very well. Over time, this will reduce the mileage and make the section more efficient. 
• The Street Cleansing software can notify residents who have reported an issue to let them know the job has been completed.
• The system will give the team an opportunity to work smarter, the system will work out the jobs, the routes and which bins are in urgent need of being emptied.
• In the last couple of months, enhanced street cleansing has happened in the Dickens area which included the delivery of notices asking residents to move their cars at specific times.  Although not many cars had been moved in preparation once the lorry came down the road, residents came out moved the cars.  Residents also came out with brushes and cleaned their own area to be removed by the Street Cleansing Team.  Delivering letters is time consuming so the Assistant Director (Operations) is looking at putting up signing around the area informing residents that area will be cleaned, asking for no parking on a certain date and time. The Team are looking at completing one half of the road and then the other and will try and undertake this work in the middle of the day to avoid school and work traffic. 
• As the team is now receiving qualitative and quantitative data from these two trials, the Bartec Cleansing module and the bin sensor technology, feedback on this data will be brought to this Committee during the summer / autumn time. An opportunity will be given to demonstrate exactly how these systems work and how the council can develop it.
• Regarding the letter sent to residents regarding contamination in their recycling, the crews are able to report this on the system and a first letter is then generated.  If there is a second offence within a six-month period, Officers will door knock and speak to the residents. Language barriers could be an issue, but the council is working towards using QR codes which would translate information and letters into the residents known language, as Gravesham is a multicultural borough.
• About 8 years ago, Gravesham were one of the early trendsetters in installing the smart compaction litter bins in the town centre. Other authorities are now using this technology. Newcastle City Council are currently using the bin sensors and Gravesham are in consultation with them to discuss and review how they are working and any improvement that could be made. 
• The team are currently devising an action plan on how we can take the Bartec system forward.

The Chair and Committee thanked the teamsfor all their hard work they do to ensure the borough is much cleaner and tidier.

Resolved that this report is for information purposes only.