The Panel received a representation from Marie Davinson of the Battles Area Resident Association (BARA) on Veolia’s performance.  This highlighted issues with missed collections, street litter, the return of bins to properties, the collection of green sacks, leaf collections, the clearance of gutters and fly tipping.  Concern was also expressed about the new service rollout, the amount of containers involved and how those living in different property types, especially flats, will cope with these.

Graeme Kane, Assistant Director for Public Spaces, Contracts and Commissioning, went on to introduce the officer report:

·         This is a further update on Veolia’s performance under the contract as requested by the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel through its reference to Cabinet;

·         Currently, performance is not where it should be.  Merton officers and Veolia are working to address performance issues;

·         Highlighted the ongoing campaign to reduce the number of fly tips.  Adverts focusing on the fines for fly tipping are being featured on banners on highway railings and caged vehicles etc.  Social media is also being used and LBM enforcement officers and those working through the Kingdom contract are issuing fines (in total, 2,697 fines were issued between July 2017 and January 2018).  The Council is now also naming and shaming those who haven’t paid their fixed penalty notices following court action; and

·         There is awareness of difficulties with the online reporting of issues in the same locality.  This is being addressed.

Scott Edgell, General Manager of Veolia Environmental Services UK, also responded to the BARA representation:

·         Thanks given for the feedback which was highlighted as valuable;

·         Staff are currently being trained to ensure box/bin returns;

·         Until the new service is rolled-out, additionally resources and some changes will be needed specifically to address litter issues caused by black bags and foxes.  Once the wheeled bin/containerised solution is implemented, these issues should be mitigated;

·         Merton is a leafy borough.  Staff are being trained to sweep and not litter pick.  Noted that parked cars can make it difficult to sweep some areas;

·         Offered to meet with BARA residents and look at the gutter issue that has been identified; and

·         Working to get the frequency by which litter bins are emptied correct but this isn’t yet quite right especially for those at bus stops.

Marie Davinson agreed that there had been some improvement in performance over the last couple of weeks.

In response to member questions, Graeme Kane and Scott Edgell clarified:

·         (Scott Edgell) Collections from flats do pose a challenge but the number of missed collections from communal flats is not increasing.  Currently, collections from flats that are scheduled for the evenings are encountering difficulties because of parked cars which restrict access to sites.  There are between 20 – 30 collections from flats that are affected in this way and need to be rescheduled for earlier in the day when parked cars are less of an issue.  Veolia is also making vehicles available that are able to access these more challenging sites (they are smaller).  This issue with collections from flats was exacerbated over Christmas simply because of the typical increase in waste presented at this time of year (on average waste increases by 30%).  There had also been issues with staff schedules over the Christmas period from which Veolia has learnt;

·         (Scott Edgell) Changes are being implemented now to address performance issues.  The kerbside collection teams are being reconfigured and a new team is being built following one team being dismissed for fraud.  The phasing of street cleansing is being reconfigured and additional staff provided.  Whilst reported issues are up this reflects that IT systems have been successfully integrated and that a clearer picture of Merton’s waste needs is being built.  However, this means that reactive work is currently dominating and not leaving enough time for planned work;

·         (Scott Edgell) In the interim, prior to the rollout of the new service, street cleansing teams will work alongside kerbside collections rather than Veolia’s preferred approach of street cleansers working within dedicated villages (so they get to know their area better).  Noted that this is already allowing progress to be made in the east of the borough;

·         (Scott Edgell) Prior to the start of the contract, there were 109 street cleansers working in the borough.  Now these are down to the mid-70s.  However, Veolia also uses more mechanical approaches to street cleansing which can cover three to four times the distance of an individual sweeper although this can be limited by parked cars.  Veolia’s approach to street cleansing has been independently reviewed (both frequency and methodology) with the judgement that this is probably about right;

·         (Scott Edgell) Difficulties in Nelson Road as reported by Cllr Neep were initially addressed by Veolia staff but these were too considerable to be remedied completely in one day.  There was then a breakdown in communication.  Offered to do more to address if required;

·         (Graeme Kane) Financial deductions will be made against Veolia as it is not achieving the contractually required performance.  The value of these deductions is being calculated;

·         (Scott Edgell) Merton provided Veolia with comprehensive data sets.  Given the amount of data, there were some slight errors;

·         (Graeme Kane) The figures quoted in points 2.19 and 3.7 measure different things.  The figure quoted in 2.19 is for formal complaints where a resident believes something has gone wrong.  Whereas 3.7 is the number of recorded service requests (anything from a fly tip to a dead animal on street being reported);

·         (Scott Edgell) The contract between Merton and Veolia is for an initial eight year period with the option to extend by 8 years and then a further 8 years;

·         (Graeme Kane) The Love Clean Streets and Love My Street Apps work by sending through an email to the street cleansing team that then has to be manually entered into the Council’s systems to be accesses by Veolia.  It is therefore preferable that this is initially entered by the resident directly through the Council website.  Chris Lee, Director for Environment and Regeneration, added that whilst there is no plan for the Council to develop its own app, the mobile version of the Council website is being developed to feature a mapping tool that will link straight into the ECHO system in refuse collection vehicles;

·         (Scott Edgell) The Veolia social media team has just appointed a dedicated person for the SWLP.  Whilst the ‘mucky Merton’ hashtag is an important tool, emphasised the importance of properly reporting through the Council website.

·         (Graeme Kane) The Council is using a variety of means to address fly tipping including enforcement officers, cameras and mobile cameras, CCTV identification of vehicles and individuals and the issuing of fixed penalty notices.  Active resident engagement is also ongoing through letters, door knocking etc.  Whilst some residents are fly tipping knowingly, in other cases it might simply be a case of collection days not being known.  Posters to raise awareness of fines for fly tipping are put up in know fly tipping locations.  Councillors were asked to inform of other areas where fly tipping happens frequently;

·         (Scott Edgell) The build up of leaves and detritus will be dealt with through deep cleansing using mechanical sweepers.  These can be difficult to use where cars are parked and/or gritting has taken place.  This will therefore have to be planned with residents being asked to move vehicles in advance;

·         (Scott Edgell) Highlighted that Kingston is a very similar borough to Merton where Veolia is successfully using the same approach to waste under the same management team and with the same vehicles etc.  Confident that the same success is possible in Merton but need more time to go through the process of getting the contract better established; and

·         (Scott Edgell) Between 20,000 to 26,000 additional food waste caddies need to be delivered to maximise food waste recycling in Merton.  Residents need to be further encouraged to recycle food waste and therefore a new advertising campaign is planned.