Currently, Norfolk council-owned Norse South East collects residents’ waste under a deal which sees Havant borough council responsible for East Hampshire’s waste collection services.
East Hampshire is exploring exiting the arrangements so it can return to “a direct relationship with the supplier with control over our own contract”.
In a joint statement, the council’s leader, Cllr Richard Millard, and chief executive, Gill Kneller, said the “fundamental issue” was a shortage of personnel qualified to drive and load refuse collection vehicles. The pair said this was a “national challenge” and not specific to East Hampshire.
“Put simply, Norse South East, which provides the service, doesn’t have enough crews to collect waste, recycling, garden waste and kerbside glass currently,” Cllr Millard and Ms Kneller said.
To address the issue in the short term, the council says it has raised drivers’ pay by around 22% and offered a cash incentive to new starters. Loaders will be offered an 11% pay rise, the council says.
East Hampshire has also suspended glass collections for one month, to allow time to recruit more staff and “give residents some clarity”.
“We know this is not a solution, but it is the best use of our limited resources at the moment,” Cllr Millard and Ms Kneller said.
‘Direct control’
A spokesperson for Havant borough council told letsrecycle.com that the local authorities had agreed to ask officers to investigate an expedited exit from the current contractual agreement following the decision to separate the two councils in January. The councils had worked in partnership across several services since 2009.
East Hampshire district council will create a separate, direct relationship with Norse
- Havant borough council spokesperson
The spokesperson added: “Both councils are in discussion with Norse to finalise governance and commercial arrangements to enable this to happen quickly.
“Havant borough council will retain its joint venture with Norse – called Norse South East – whilst East Hampshire district council will create a separate, direct relationship with Norse. This allows both councils to have direct control over the services provided.”
East Hampshire
Representing an estimated population of more than 120,000, East Hampshire district council had a household waste recycling rate of 36.2% in the 2020/21 financial year.
Norse began collecting household waste and recycling in Havant in April 2016, while East Hampshire joined the partnership in July 2019 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Under the joint venture, Norse provides the councils with household refuse, recycling and garden waste collections, as well as street cleansing and cemetery and allotment maintenance.
In their statement, Cllr Millard and Ms Kneller also said East Hampshire was ready to launch an extension to its garden waste service. However, they added: “The issue, again, is driver and crew capacity. The council is currently making plans to distribute the new bins to new licence holders using internal resources.”
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