To receive a presentation summarising the work taking place to meet the priorities aims and objectives set out in Amey’s Contract Improvement Plan since the Committee’s last meeting.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation summarising the progress made by Amey towards achieving the aims, priorities and objectives set out in the contract improvement plan for 20223/24.
Amey continued to be concerned about aggressive behavior directed towards operatives by members of the public. This cumulated on 31st July 2023 when a loader was knocked down by a third party vehicle which had attempted to overtake a waste collection vehicle. Fortunately the employee had not been seriously injured however this was the second time that a loader had been hit in the joint contract area. A review of safety measures in place had found that there were already sufficient lights and safety beacons on the vehicles to alert people to the presence of staff operating in the vicinity of the vehicle however vehicle dust curtains would be replaced with new ones with improved signage on them. It was agreed that all partner authorities would support any publicity messages and campaigns around loader safety.
It was reported that notwithstanding vehicle breakdowns, which had impacted on the completion of the garden waste collection rounds, the service had across the partner area had been subject to minimal disruptions since the Committee’s last meeting. Leafing routes had been scheduled and two additional large mechanical sweepers would be deployed to each depot the week commencing 16th October 2023. An external review of the street sweeping programme had been completed to ensure that the best use of resources was being made and the learning from this would be applied to the leafing work in the coming months.
The pay offer had been accepted by the Mole Valley depot and the pay uplift had been applied and back pay paid. Unions representing workers at the Elmbridge, Surrey Heath and Woking depots had balloted their members about strike action and the outcome of these ballots was awaited. Feedback from the unions had confirmed that the workforce was happy with the conditions and the pay rates were the main concern.
A review of the sweeper and caged vehicle provision as part of work to replace the fleet was underway. Within the vehicle replacement programme, thirteen 3.5tonne sweepers and nine compact sweepers were scheduled for replacement before the end of the contract in 2027. A proposal to maintain the 3.5tonne vehicles until the end of the contract, reduce the number of compact sweepers across the joint contract area and bring in two additional large sweepers to supplement the fleet was under consideration. It was noted that the proposal to replace compact sweepers with large sweepers would enable further distances to be covered and bigger loads to be collected in a single round thus introducing efficiencies into the contract. The larger sweepers were operated by two members of staff so staff numbers would remain the same.
It was clarified that the turnaround time on replacement bins was governed by a Service Level Agreement. Where an order for a single bin had been placed by a resident then a replacement should be delivered within five working days. Bulk orders from developers would require a longer lead time. Delivery of new bins in Woking took slightly longer because delivery had been contracted to a third party whereas in other areas deliveries were supported by the Street Cleansing teams.
It was agreed that the Garden Waste Subscription Renewal pages on the website would be reviewed to improve their user friendliness.
Reports of incorrect liners being used in the dual waste bins had been followed up with supervisors and JWS had been carrying out spot checks to ensure the situation had not recurred.
It was thought that a recent incident in Elmbridge which had resulted in a dead fox being left on the roadside for a number of days had occurred because it may not have been reported properly and the matter would be followed up. The integration of Elmbridge’s customer service forms into Whitespace would ensure that any future reports were followed up in a timely manner.
The Committee noted the update and asked that their best wishes be conveyed to the employee injured on 31st July 2023.