To receive a presentation providing an update on the progress made towards achieving the aims, priorities and objectives set out in Amey’s contract Improvement Plan for the 2021/22 financial year.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation in respect of the work taking place to achieve the targets and objectives set out in the Contract Improvement Plan for 2021/22.
The main challenge to the delivery of the contract continued to be a shortage of HGV drivers and across the joint contract area there were 24 driver vacancies (including 7 vacancies due to long term sickness). Whilst it had been possible to secure seven agency drivers there remained 17 vacancies across the area and drivers were being loaned across the areas to enable core collections of refuse, recycling and food waste to be continued uninterrupted.
A number of mitigating actions had been put in place to reduce vacancy levels including offering an intensive driver training courses to existing employees, supporting driver apprenticeships and payment of new starter and retention bonuses. An agency sweeper driver employed to cover the leafing period had also been retained so that a driver could be redeployed. Open days had been held to raise awareness of the opportunities available however enquiries were not translating into applications and feedback from attendees indicated that the base salaries on offer were considered to be too low.
The Committee was informed that to date eight members of staff had applied to participate in the HGV Driver Intensive Training programme. All had now completed their driver medicals and received their provisional licences and five had confirmed theory test dates scheduled for early December. A period of shared driver experience had been incorporated into the training programme to increase the confidence of new drivers before they assumed sole charge of a 26tonne vehicle and it was expected that the current cohort would be ready to take operate on their own by April 2022.
The Committee expressed concern that even though the shortage of drivers had started to be of concern in August Amey had only just started to advertise the roles and action only now seemed to be being taken to upskill existing staff through the Intensive Driver Training. The Committee questioned whether Amey was treating the situation with enough of a sense of urgency particularly in view of the impacts that the loss of the garden waste service was having on staff working on collection rounds and officers and councillors who were having to deal with residents’ complaints. It was also stressed that the suspension of the service would have an impact on budgets going forward as residents cancelled their garden waste collection subscriptions.
It was Amey’s contention that when the problem arose earlier in the year there had been sufficient resources in place to cover the situation however it had not been possible to predict the high level of drivers leaving Amey’s employment had occurred in the Autumn.
The Committee expressed reservations about Amey’s ability to resolve the situation and re-establish a full garden waste collection service across the entire joint contract area within an acceptable timescale; particularly in light of the delays that had arisen in putting a fully operational ICT system in place and the difficulties that were being experienced when trying to communicate between the Contact Centre, officers and depots. It was emphasised that pushing back reinstatement of a full service to August or September 2022 was unacceptable and that the service should be fully operational by the start of the new financial year at the latest.
Amey acknowledged the Committee’s concerns and admitted that they had misread the situation when it first arose. It was highlighted that if Amey’s proposals proceeded as planned then it was projected that it would be possible to resume weekly collections from April 2022. Notwithstanding this a significant amount of leave had been accumulated by crew and drivers and whilst leave requests would be managed this could impact on services over the summer period. The Committee was also informed that the current driver salaries offered put Amey at the bottom end of the market and unless steps were taken to remediate the situation then the future situation was likely to remain uncertain.
The Committee noted the update.