Minutes:
The motion was moved by Councillor Daniel Holden and seconded by Councillor Suzanne Grocott.
The Labour amendment as set out in agenda item 21 was moved by Councillor Ross Garrod and seconded by Councillor Judy Saunders.
The Labour amendment was put to a vote and was carried – votes in favour: 33, votes against:24, abstentions: 1.
A recorded vote on the substantive motion (as amended) was taken and the motion was carried.
Votes in favour: Councillors Agatha Akyigyina, Stephen Alambritis, Mark Allison, Stan Anderson, Laxmi Attawar, Michael Brunt, Tobin Byers, David Chung, Caroline Cooper-Marbiah, Pauline Cowper, Mary Curtin, John Dehaney, Nick Draper, Fidelis Gadzama, Ross Garrod, Joan Henry, Mary-Jean Jeanes, Abigail Jones, Philip Jones, Andrew Judge, Sally Kenny, Linda Kirby, Edith Macauley, Russell Makin, Peter McCabe, Ian Munn, Katy Neep, Jerome Neil, Dennis Pearce, Judy Saunders, Marsie Skeete Geraldine Stanford, Imran Uddin, Martin Whelton (34).
Votes against: Councillors Hamish Badenoch, John Bowcott, Michael Bull, Adam Bush, Charlie Chirico, Stephen Crowe, David Dean, Edward Foley, Suzanne Grocott, Daniel Holden, James Holmes, Janice Howard, Mary-Jane Jeanes, Abdul Latif, Najeeb Latif, Brian Lewis-Lavender, Gilli Lewis-Lavender, Oonagh Moulton, John Sargeant, David Simpson, Peter Southgate, Linda Taylor, Jill West, David Williams (24).
RESOLVED: That this Council:
1)Recognises that the government’s swingeing cuts to local authority funding have resulted in a reduction of more than 40% in council budgets since 2010 and that this inevitably has an impact on local services. Merton’s residents regularly cite litter on the streets as one of their top concerns (according to the annual residents survey), and , after a period under the previous administration when government data rated Merton the dirtiest borough in the country, have rated street cleansing services as above the London average in recent years.
2) Notes that government cuts have forced councils such as Merton to look at options for less costly waste collection and street cleaning services and notes that, following the hand over of operational responsibility for street cleaning in Merton to Veolia from April 2017, there will be a new focus on outcomes rather than inputs, with the quality of the service, rather than the number of FTEs, being what is important to residents and to the council.
3)Notes that:
1) The current administration was elected in 2014 on a manifesto commitment to sweep roads in Merton each week and in fact many roads will be swept more often than this where needed;
2) The quality of street cleaning is a key component of the Phase C contract although this may not have been understood by some Members’ despite a number of years of scrutiny in Merton of the South London Waste Partnership joint procurement process;
3) There has been no consultation with residents on these changes to the service they receive as there is no statutory requirement to do so, nor is there a reduction in the standards we expect to be met; and
4) The financial case for the contract with Veolia is based on at least £1.7m in savings per annum for 24 years, with the proposed savings being delivered through increased efficiency and a business-like focus on outcomes rather than an old fashioned staff headcount approach which might bear no relation to the quality of the service.
4)Calls on Cabinet to continue to robustly monitor the contract with Veolia to a) ensure they deliver on their contractual commitment to achieve high levels of street cleaning based on regular quality checks; b) look at any additional options that could increase the quality of the service provided, in the absence of any additional funding from central government; and c) continue to seek to deliver the Phase C contract through efficiencies rather than service quality reductions, whilst acknowledging that government cuts will inevitably have an impact on local services.
Supporting documents: