Agenda item

CThorpe presented the salient points from the report. 

Waste services operations continued to suffer from COVID-related absence plus a national shortage of drivers, but had nonetheless managed to provide a successful full service.  Fewer mechanical sweeper drivers had been available due to drivers having been redeployed to waste collection, and difficulties were still being encountered with recruiting new drivers with 7 current driver vacancies.

Over the last few months annual refresher training had been delivered to 110 frontline staff and a further 90 Council staff, plus agency staff.  Driver CPC training had also been provided to the 30 drivers on waste services.  An ISO14001 report had revealed several issues to be resolved in relation to the depot.  CSG assisted the tree contractors in the 3 storms that occurred in March. 

DBC had worked alongside other organisations on town cleaning, particularly targeting graffiti on all structures. 

The A41 was deep cleaned and all traffic islands were swept before grass cutting operations were recommenced in April. 

The Splash Park was recommissioned and opened earlier than in previous years.  Some maintenance was required, though the park was operating well.

95 standard trees and 900 whips had been planted across the borough and 60 new planted troughs had been supplied, along with further plants and a green canopy.  Several organisations had contributed further plants, work and best practices.

Bunkers Park and Chipperfield Common had retained their green flag status and other parks would be judged later in the year.

The River Gaye project had been pushed back to the following year.

On education awareness, Christmas Tree recycling had been a large success with 6,000 trees having been collected and chipped. 

Several ‘Nappy Natter’ events had been held with success, with a view to changing mothers’ behaviour in terms of reuse of nappies. 

3 successful clothes swaps had been very popular with the public.

130 new street champion registrations had been received, with a total of 628 registered champions as of 31^st March.  It was clarified that the total number of active champions each week was in the 400’s, though champions were regularly contacted to monitor engagement levels.

324 individuals took part in the Great British Spring Clean.

Primary and secondary school talks continued with a brand-new pack.

Over 11,000 requests for services had been received by the customer services department at Cupid Green depot.  An outline of the individual services requested and delivered was then provided including clinical waste and sharps collection.

In terms of performance, the figure for WR001A was slightly higher than target due to a number of agency drivers being deployed and several vehicles without the required in-cab technology to monitor assisted collections.  As such, with new staff recruitment this was expected to be alleviated.

Garden waste collections had been lower than target in Winter, though this was to be expected and reflected a requirement for more seasonal variance in the targets.

The report was noted, and the floor was then opened for questions.

Cllr Timmis expressed gratitude for the update and Cllr Timmis then asked, in relation to sharps collection, Cllr Timmis was surprised to hear that sharps were being delivered and collected by DBC and asked why this was the case, and whether this related in any way to fly tipping and a report highlighting high areas of drug use in the Dacorum area.  In response, it was highlighted that in years past DBC had collected a large amount of clinical waste, though now this had been referred to other services.  It was clarified that these clinical waste requests were not due to illicit drug use but rather were health care related.  Sealed sharps boxes were collected in a purpose-built vehicle and disposed of via incineration at a local facility.

Cllr England congratulated those involved on maintaining bin collection levels and expressed gratitude for the planting of a tree that had been centre of the recent Jubilee celebrations.  Cllr England then asked whether there were plans to achieve green flag status for more local parks. There are no plans to put in place the management programmes – some quick wins are available, but the required management plans and organisation would be time-consuming.”

Cllr Foster echoed the praise for the work carried out.  The Cllr then commented on the ISO14001.215 audit carried out at Cupid Green depot, which had identified some compliance problems.  Cllr Wyatt-Lowe wished to know the nature of these problems and what impact they had had on service delivery.  It was explained that ISO14001 related to the proper storage and disposal of waste.  This accreditation had been a considerable achievement, though it had been rescinded due to Council-wide decision making and as a result some of the paperwork was no longer up to the standard of an external auditor.  It was stressed that Cupid Green depot remained compliant with the Environment Agency’s requirements, though work was to be done to update and improve the paperwork.

Cllr Foster then enquired in relation to the employment of sweeper drivers, highlighting several local issues that required more extensive work than sweepers were able to carry out, and may present an issue in any future storms.  In response, it was highlighted that 8 LGV drivers had been trained and pay and employment terms and conditions had been enhanced which should aid retainment of drivers in waste collection.  It was also hoped that in future even more drivers could be recruited.

Cllr Foster then asked a third question in relation to which schools were involved in the previously mentioned educational awareness schemes, and also whether any trees had been planted outside of Hemel.  In response to the question on plants, it was highlighted that details of recent planting locations would soon be made available online.  It was also pointed out that local wards were able to submit bids for wildflower patches to be planted in their areas.  It was also highlighted that this was to be balanced with the use of public spaces for other uses such as dog walking.

Cllr Rogers commented on the traffic light reporting system used in the report, asking whether it was possible to incorporate a graph to indicate trends over time.  It was agreed that this would be done in future.

Cllr Rogers also asked in relation to a visit for Councillors to visit Cupid Green depot.  In response, it was highlighted that this was certainly a possibility.

Cllr England then asked how best to inform the grass-cutting services that grass-cutting was needed in a local ward or area.  In response, it was highlighted that this was currently rather vague but work was being done to make grass-cutting vehicle tracking information more readily available online.  The window for grass-cutting was between 4 and 6 from the previous cut, though most crews were managing to cut grass every 4-5 weeks.

Cllr Foster asked, given the current emphasis on litter, the significance of zero litter inspections having been conducted.  It was clarified that this had not been possible due to resourcing issues during COVID, however it was hoped that inspections would resume in time.

Cllr Timmis asked, in relation to educational awareness and the recent Nappy Natter events and clothes swaps, if these were localised to Hemel Hempstead and, if so, whether these could be carried out in conjunction with other local organisations across the Borough to widen the coverage of these operations. 

Cllr Timmis also asked what the cost of A41 cleaning operations were.  It was highlighted that the bulk of the cost was due to traffic management.  It cost £1,100 per day to employ Hertfordshire County Council’s traffic management services for such an operation, so this was generally done on a single day to minimise costs given a budget of £25,000, and also when the Hertfordshire County Council contractor used traffic management services in order to cut the grass. 

Cllr Timmis opined that, where possible, services should be rolled out across the Borough and not just in Hemel. 

Cllr Stevens, in relation to the clothes swaps, pointed out that a local environment group in Berkhamsted also ran similar local schemes.

It was also asked that in future reports, commentary be provided on any issues allocated a ‘Red’ indicator status.