Agenda item

Improving Service Resilience

To receive a presentation from Amey on the work taking place to improve the resilience of the waste collection service.

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation setting out the work that Amey was undertaking to improve the resilience of the waste collection service across the four partner areas and to miminise the impacts of any industrial action that could arise following recent union activity in the Partnership area.

 

Service Resilience

 

Staffing

 

The Committee was informed that work to recruit a pool of operational staff to cover periods of annual and sick leave was nearing completion with the final interviews taking place over the next two weeks.  To give Amey greater control over the number of staff members on leave at any one time, an agreement had been reached with agencies that Amey would be responsible for signing off leave requests from agency staff.

 

Pay rises had been agreed for approximately two thirds of Amey’s current operational staff and the introduction of a performance and attendance bonus system had been well received.

 

A restructure of the operational management was underway to improve accountability at unit level and place an increased focus on safety and compliance.  Under the new structure each depot would have a single site manager so that the sites operated to the requirements of the contract. 

 

Vehicle Reliability

 

Hire companies were no longer hiring 70:30 vehicles and work was taking place to review requirements or acquire alternative vehicles so that the unreliable 70:30 vehicles currently in use across Mole Valley could be removed from service as soon as possible.  As an interim measure, additional mechanical support and vehicle inspections had been brought in to address problems with the reliability of the 70:30 vehicles currently in use and additional vehicles had been sourced from other existing contracts to enable rounds to be completed with minimal disruption in the event of a vehicle breakdown.  

 

Complaints

 

Work had taken place to ensure that all the in-cab technology units had accurate and up to date information relating to those properties requiring assisted bin collections.


Due to the volume of requests received, an external delivery company was being used to ensure that additional bins were delivered in good time.

 

Route Optimisation

 

Work was underway to equalise routes across Mole Valley and adjust those routes where the 70:30 vehicles were being used so that these vehicles could be phased out.

 

Alongside this, work was taking place on the narrow access garden route in Elmbridge and the restricted access route in Surrey Heath.

 

Industrial Action

 

The Committee was informed that the GMB union had threatened industrial action following a request that its members receive a 17% pay increase, 33 days annual leave (on top of statutory bank holidays) and full sick pay for a period of six months was turned down by Amey, who were offering pay equalisation across all four sites over a two or three year period.

 

It was reported that the majority of staff in Mole Valley were represented by the Unite union and therefore unaffected by the threatened action.  An agreement on pay and conditions had been reached for both the Streets and Refuse Teams in Mole Valley consequently, any industrial action would have a minimal impact on the area.  Pay agreements had also been reached with staff in Woking and with Elmbridge’s Streets Team.  Work to reach an agreement with staff in Surrey Heath and with Elmbridge’s Refuse Teams was ongoing. The Committee was informed that whilst all GMB members were being balloted any industrial action would be localised to those sites where a majority of GMB members working from the site voted in favour of industrial action.

 

It was reported that ballot papers would be distributed to GMB members on 4th October 2019 and it was expected that a result would declared within two weeks.  If a majority were in favour of industrial action then the parties would be expected to go to arbitration before any industrial action occurred.  The Union had to provide Amey with 14 days notice of any intended industrial action and the vote would be valid for six months.

 

In order to reduce the impact that any industrial action might have on residents, Joint waste Solutions (JWS) and Amey were working together to ensure that business continuity plans were robust and up to date and that essential collections were prioritised.

 

Arising from the Committee’s questions and comments the following points were noted:

 

·         It was confirmed that the changes brought in to improve resilience across the contract were fully funded.

·         Vehicle manufacturers were exploring a number of different ways to reduce carbon emissions including LPG powered vehicles and using electric hydraulics to power the lifting mechanisms.

·         It was possible to track idling times of vehicles and the employment of a data analyst would enable Amey to regularly monitor this area in future.

 

The Committee noted the update.