Inspectors condemn two councils over waste management performance

The two councils under fire were Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, which was given zero stars out of three for its environmental services and told the prospects of improvement were 'uncertain', and Teesdale, Durham, where the refuse collection service gained one star but was judged to have poor prospects of improvement.

Babergh, Suffolk, was awarded two stars for its environmental services, and the inspectors said it showed promising prospects for improvement.
Great Yarmouth spent 2.9 million on recycling, refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance in 2001/02.

The inspectors noted: “The council collects more waste per head than average and recycling performance is poor compared with other councils. There has been little progress in the development of recycling services in the last year.”

Public satisfaction was “very low” compared with other authorities and refuse collection had generated a large number of complaints. The inspectors added: “We have concerns about the capacity of the council to agree, plan and implement key decision successfully.”

No timetable

Significant change would come only if the council decided how to progress its recycling and on the specification, standards and procurement of environmental services.

“There is no clear timetable or plan for the procurement of these key services, nor are recycling proposals fully developed or resourced at this stage,” the inspectors said.

Council leader Barry Coleman said: “I accept that in February, when the inspectors carried out their inspection, there were significant weaknesses in key services, such as refuse collection, cleansing and grounds maintenance. Many of these stemmed from changes which the council had to make to achieve savings of 1.5 million in our annual expenditure.”

The council has since allocated an extra 40,000 to employ additional street cleaners, and bid for Government funding of over 1.5 million for recycling, he said.

At Teesdale, 527,858 was spent on refuse collection and recycling in 2001/02, equivalent to 17% of the council's revenue budget. The inspectors found that although most residents were satisfied with the service, there were no standards against which local people could measure performance. Just 4% of waste was recycled and “insufficient emphasis is being placed on waste minimisation”. Prospects for improvement were poor because the council had not consulted residents and so lacked customer focus.

Surprised

Teesdale was surprised by the negative findings, which it called “unfair”. Director of community services Peter Slack said: “The inspectors are aware that the council is developing partnership arrangements designed to not only meet, but surpass recycling targets.”

Babergh's plaudits included refuse collection, recycling and street cleansing, parts of a 2.2 million environmental services department. Inspectors noted high levels of customer satisfaction and good levels of performance achieved at low cost. They called for particular focus on meeting increased recycling targets and home composting.

“We are very pleased to get this recognition,” said Malcolm Firth, Babergh's head of environmental services. “In most areas of our work we compare with the top performing councils nationally. Babergh works well with other Suffolk authorities in tackling environmental tasks, including the recycling of domestic and trade waste.”