Agenda item

D Austin introduced the report.

Councillor Matthews referred to Item 11.2 on Page 15 relating to a noticeable increase from front line workers citing anxiety, stress and depression and enquired as to what measures were being taken to support staff.

D Austin advised that there was still some analysis being undertaken with regards to the correlation of the recent changes to the waste services and their impact on staff. He went on to advise that all Officers from Team Leader upwards have Mental Health training to make us aware of the signs and what can be done; the Authority also has a network of Mental Health First Aiders, offering a network of people to go to for advice; the Authority also has an Employee Assistance Programme, where staff can make contact anonymously and arrange to receive counselling.

Councillor Matthews enquired as to whether there was any indication of front line workers inordinately accessing or not accessing the services.

D Austin advised he would have to check those figures with colleagues in Human Resources, as the Employee Assistance Programme is operated by them.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe commented that with regards to mental health, Dacorum is taking a lead on this in certainly the South East, if not the County and the officers involved should be congratulated.

The Chairman noted that it still needed to be worked at because it does run at 11 days lost and has done for quite some time.

D Austin advised that they operate a team of between 160-170 front line staff. He went on to add that as an Authority we have a challenging target with regards to sickness absence but there is a recognition that staff are out in all kinds of weather, in a physical natured job but also in a close confinement of a cab, where germs are likely to spread, are likely to have a higher rates of absence than an office environment.

Councillor Ashbourn referred to Item 8.31 and the A41 and began by offering congratulations on the difference the clean made to the area, but enquired as to what was being done to monitor and prevent the littering from getting that bad again.

D Austin advised that the issue for the Authority is that there is a range of issues on the street cleansing side and we could probably invest more into cleansing the A41 roadside but that a judgement has to be made bearing in mind the expense of particularly the traffic management, which will be up to £1000 a day, so a judgement is made as to how frequently we will litter pick such a road and a judgement has been made that twice a year is adequate. More will be being done in terms of education awareness, talking to Hertfordshire Highways with regards to getting more signage put up on the A41, more signs on the automated boards to prevent littering. Also looking at enforcement initiatives, as on places like the A41 it is not so much domestic generated waste but more skip lorries that are not properly containing their waste, so we have written to all the skip companies to ask for reassurance about how they are securing their loads and looking at later this year carrying out Operation Tipstop, where, in conjunction with the Police, any vehicles carrying waste are stopped and duty of care certificates are inspected to make sure they are bona fide waste carriers, as it can also be about some people who are not following the law. He concluded by advising that it is a complex picture, where we can always do better and that it tends to be more noticeable before the grass grows in the spring time and we get the most complaints regarding the A41.

Councillor Ashbourn noted that this was very relevant to promoting Dacorum, which is generally an attractive place to be.

The Chairman particularly welcomed the enforcement angle as he believes a camera would clean up far more than it would cost very quickly, but that that was down to Herts Highways.

Councillor Adshead commented that the difference was noticeable after the clean up had happened but that it was already beginning to look like nothing had happened. He went on to enquire as to what was being done to make people aware that their Council Tax was being spent to clear this up and advertising the cost involved in this.

D Austin advised that lots of information goes out not just regarding the A41. There had recently been a press release not just about the amount of litter but also the various types of items that are picked up. However to deal with litter effectively, you need to have effective enforcement and the best possible education awareness. He went on to advise that they do a lot of work with schools and community groups on litter pick ups. Also operational effectiveness with picking it up as quickly as you can with the resources you have.

Councillor Hearn made reference to the collection of road kill from the A41 as this is disturbing for young people in vehicles. He went on to advise that the road kill is quite often there longer than 7 days and included deer, badgers and foxes and cited one occasion on the stretch between the M25 and Tring, he had counted 3 deer, 4 badgers, 3 foxes and not one was moved for 7 days. He enquired as to what steps could be taken to improve that as it is extremely disturbing.

D Austin advised he had not had that complaint raised to him for many years, but that he would look at that issue and that it may be a need to talk to Herts Highways to secure a better response to that.

Councillor Marshall commented regarding the sickness and stress and understood the concerns that had been raised and offered some background information that the Finance & Resources OSC have been looking into this in the past years and that they get the reports from the staff survey and the stress survey. She added that 3 reports had been received by the Committee last year as there appear to be some hotspots for increased stress levels and offered reassurance that it is on the radar for both the Finance & Resources OSC and also for Human Resources.

Councillor Sutton commented regarding the littering of the A41 and noted that the road runs through our Borough, that quite a lot of the litter is spread by people who do not live in the Borough and are just passing through and stated that his own personal opinion was that a lot of people who live in the Borough are proud of the Borough and don’t litter like that.

Councillor Riddick noted that other neighbouring boroughs and districts use signage to tackle litter and enquired if there was any feedback as to the effectiveness of this.

D Austin advised that there is no objective evidence in terms of any positive effects, but clearly anything that raises awareness would have a positive effect. However he did advise that there is some complex legislation around signage.

Councillor Ransley commented that on the A41 in the Bucks area they have removed all litter bins and replaced with signs requesting people take their litter home with them and enforcement and noted that they do appear to have less litter on that part of the A41.

D Austin commented that this was an interesting approach that could be explored, however the feedback from the teams who did the A41 litter pick was that that stretch was actually much worse than the Dacorum stretch, however it is about opinion and that clearly any approach that has benefit would be looked at.

Councillor Matthews referred to the performance report on Page 16 and queried that CSG05 had not been signed off and enquired as to why.

D Austin advised that this appeared to be a glitch in the system that produces the performance figures.

Councillor Matthews then referred to TW03 and enquired as to why this PI was to be scrapped next year.

D Austin advised it was part of the service planning process and that a judgement had to be made as to which objectives are meaningful against performance. In this instance it was not felt that this was an externally focused indicator, but that they would relook at indicators if there are views regarding performance.

Councillor Hicks referred to the A41 being a strategic link and at what point this was paid for by us as a Borough rather than nationally.

D Austin confirmed that the M1 and A5 from Junction 9 are managed by Highways Agency but the A41 is managed by Herts Highways in respect of grass cutting and Dacorum in regards of litter picking.

The Chairman enquired as to why the Borough has to pay the County Council for traffic management to enable us to get on there to meet our statutory responsibility.

D Austin advised that where possible the litter picking teams try to ‘piggy back’ the grass cutters but it is also felt that we should be litter picking above and beyond that. There are also concerns from Hertfordshire Highways with regards to the congestion it can cause. He went on to advise that overnight work is currently being looked at to reduce the problems of traffic backing up to the M25. There is a regular operational meeting with Herts Highways to try and ensure the best joined up approach.

The Chairman enquired that at a strategic level is there any type of statutory responsibility that we could trade with Herts County Council that would make them responsible for the litter picking.

D Austin advised that that is an option that could be explored.

Councillor Matthews referred to Appendix 4 on Page 23 and asked what the figures 93.3% in Quarter 1 meant and what they are telling us about litter.

D Austin advised that the top figure referred to the number of inspections and the % figure referred to the % of acceptable cleanliness standard. He advised that inspected areas are graded A – D, with A being very clean and no litter to give an idea of quality control and where to allocate resources with regards to litter and cleansing.

Councillor Birnie enquired after the anomalies in the graphs on Page 21 for example the differences in plastic and plastic can starting off very high and ending up with zero.

D Austin advised that this was due to changes in the waste collection service at the end of last year from a source separated system to a co-mingled collection. He went on to say that as we move forward the initial graphs will no longer be relevant.

Councillor Matthews concluded by advising that a large number of constituents had said how much better the new system was and suggested that Dave and his department should be congratulated on these efficiencies.

Outcome

The Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the report.