The Policy & Engagement Officer gave an update on the Waste and Street Cleansing Scrutiny Review.

The Environment & Climate Change Committee agreed that a scrutiny review should be carried out so that the root causes of the problems at the start of the new waste contract could be identified as well as any learning that should be carried forward.

A cross-party Member Panel was set up and they carried out their investigations between August and November 2024. In January 2025 the panel took a report of their findings to the Environment & Climate Change Committee where their conclusions and recommendations were agreed.

The report was available to read on the SBC website via this link: https://news.swale.gov.uk/campaigns/new-waste-contract-campaign/waste-scrutiny

There was also a summarised version of the recommendations available on the website.

The following comments were made:

·       It was good to see the contractor carrying out street cleansing;

·       would SBC take any action for breach of contract?

·       the search facility on Google and the SBC website did not seem to be working;

·       the removal of some litter bins had resulted in more littering, would SBC review these areas to see if some bins should be reinstated?

·       some of the litter bins were not fit for purpose, for example seagulls could access open-topped bins. Could they be assessed for suitability?

·       could QR codes (quick response codes) be attached to bins so people could easily report problems?

·       behaviour change was vital to stop fly-tipping and dumping of rubbish on roads, what was being done to tackle this?

·       inconsiderate parking was still causing access problems for waste vehicles, what was being done to deal with this?

·       Sheerness Town Council had taken out a contract with SBC for Hawkeye closed circuit television cameras to be deployed on a short-term basis. Why was there a delay with installing the cameras?

·       a Member wished to recognise the hard work of the Head of Environment & Leisure and his team for their hard work during the period of disruption and asked that the Sheppey Area Committee’s thanks be passed on.

The Head of Environment & Leisure responded that the contract allowed for financial penalties for poor performance. The Policy & Engagement Officer would ask the Communications Team to look at the search facility not working properly. The Head of Environment & Leisure advised there would be litter bin reviews but the Council had reduced the funding last year to balance the budget. Some bins had been installed many years ago so there was inconsistency with suitability, he asked if his team could be made aware of the location of any that were unsuitable for the area. QR codes would be attached to litter bins. It was hoped that as the contract was moving to a more stable phase, officers would have time to focus on behaviour change and improved performance would bring in external funding. A phased approach was used to deal with inconsiderate parking starting with letters to households in affected areas requesting access was maintained. If that approach did not work, traffic restrictions could be put in place, however, this was a lengthy process. The query about the delay in installing the CCTV camera would be taken up with the relevant team. The Head of Environment & Leisure said he would pass on  Members thanks to the team.