Brent Council's most recent contract with Veolia was signed in 2023 and included 'intelligence led' street sweeping (rather than swept on a regular rota basis) and the removal of litter bins from residential streets.
The 'Integrated Contract' LINK also included winter maintenance and was worth £137m over 8 years.
Private Eye's Rotten Boroughs column (below) has drawn attention to a very similar contract recently agreed in Croydon. The borough seems to have got a rather cheaper deal than Brent managed. It also includes'winter maintenance' - de-icing of streets etc in winter weather.
There is more information on the Inside Croydon blog HERE.
Meanwhile in a walk around the block this morning:
'Intelligence led' street cleaning on Greenhill Way, Wembley
Removal of litter bin at The Paddocks 206 bus terminus
Wishing the residents of Croydon well with their new contract.
50 comments:
Residential street bins in Brent were removed several years ago to save just £53K per year which is equivalent to just 20p per Brent resident per year.
Yet how much money do Brent Council waste each year on printing and distributing copies of the Brent Magazine? Every service in Brent is now internet/smartphone based so why isn't the Brent Magazine only published online???
There are so many places around the world without residential street bins and you don't see anywhere near as much litter, so that's a false argument really. It's about mindset and behaviour of the people, less about those tidying up after them.
And there are so many places around the world that (a) don't generate as much litter, (b) that have bottle and can deposit returns schemes, (c) that actively fine people for littering and (d) that actively fine prople for street drinking.
Good mindsets are created by prompting that all of this antisocial behaviour is not acceptable in 21st Century Brent.
Endless times we've seen old barbeques or larger containers dumped on the street that have been full of litter showing that people would use bins if they were still on residential streets.
What do you think of Veolia's streetcare? Rubbish!!!
Martin is right to highlight the dirty state of local street. The problem is sadly the same all across Brent and a direct result of the years of cuts in street cleaning services imposed by Cllr Butt and his Labour Administration.
Removing litter bins from local streets was the most stupidest thing this Labour Administration could have done. Local people in Sudbury have to wade through piles of 'take away' rubbish every single morning as the street and flower beds in their shopping area are full of pizza boxes, bottles, cans and all the other left overs from the local takeaways. Food and drink is consumed in the street and it is very unlikely that a casual visitor to the late night food shops is going to carry their 50cm square pizza box or their chicken boxes with bones all the way home to put in their waste bin - when it is so much easier just to dump it on the way home. The sooner the litter bins are brought back - as proposed by the Lib Dems at the Council Meeting in February the better.
At present it is impossible to tell someone to dispose of their rubbish responsibly if there is no litter bin around.
The new Brent Veolia contract relies on our ward councillors reporting where street sweeping is required, and more importantly, enlisting residents to report the same utilising the Fix My Street App. If the Councillors do not work with residents, the the system just won't work, just as we are seeing in several wards where the councillors do not engage with residents, especially residents associations.
I would like to know how much Brent spends on all the posters, banners and other items warning against fly-tipping and littering? I think the slogan on them is "Don't mess with Brent". 🤣
I always see fly-tipped items right next to the posters. Veolia takes the fly-tipped items away without any investigation or retention or record of the evidence, since it is not responsible for investigation and enforcement.
Not right also that Veolia often leave our streets strewn with litter after bin collection. They drop litter everywhere when emptying bins and the blue (now falling apart) bags for paper and cardboard.
The 3 Labour Wembley Central Ward Councillors do NOT engage at all - they don't even attend the important Wembley Central Police Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting which occurs every three months despite bring invited numerous times.
And one Wembley Central Councillor did not even know that Barham Park was now in Wembley Central Ward despite it bring moved into that Ward before he was elected!!!
Also if Veolia do remove reported fly tipped items they often leave behind debris which we then have to report as litter asking for the street to be swept. Why not clear everything in one go? Bet they get paid for two trips? No wonder our streets are such mess all the time 😞
Or people could just have some respect and sense rather than requiring incentives or punishment to do the right thing
Residents don’t require Councillor involvement to report via the app.
What if it’s the RAs that need to do better
What’s the price comparison with Brent?
What would be helpful is a like-for-like comparison i.e. how many properties do they collect from, how many streets are there. I’d imagine Brent’s more densely populated? And what are the alternatives if not Veolia.
Everyone complained about the blue sacks and have now fallen in line, about time they do that with the app - everyone’s tech savvy enough to do it.
How do you know that everyone's fallen in with using the blue sacks? We know many people that don't use them at all.
If we weren't working from home able to look out for the bin men to give them the blue sack and get it straight back we certainly wouldn't use it.
If Councillors don't inform the residents of the available tools and rules, who will? If councillors don't engage with RAs how will they know about the tools and rules?
It is common knowledge that other ward councillors are just as bad.
Thank you councillor whoever you are: I think you will find a lot of blue bag items are now to be found in the grey bins, or are burnt.
The app’s been plastered everywhere
Nothing’s ever achieved from those meetings anyway. The police are a mess and only good at passing the buck.
My Block started with 4 Blue Bags, now we only have 1, when it's full after a few days myself and neighbours put all card and paper in the Blue Recycling Bin, it gets collected without any fuss, job done. Blue Bags were a complete waste of money. I no longer see any Blue Bags in my street so I'm guessing everyone is doing the same thing. Revert back to the original way and it works. Pilot scheme over. Save the money
The best thing Veolia has got going for them is a young woman street cleaner called Andrea, who is extremely good at her job, whenever she is assigned my road you can see the difference immediately. She is both diligent and methodical and Veolia needs another 20 like her and Brent roads would be immaculate.
Veolia also DO Westminster, all goes to at the borough boundary. Been kept that way for 20 plus years. Andrea is heading for a Westminster patch soon....
Have to disagree!!! Our police Safer Neighbourhood Panel meetings have been helpful, setting targets for action and getting feedback on what has been achieved.
Why would street drinkers loitering on the same street corners, alleyways and parks everyday littering and urinating have any respect??? If no-one fines them for this continued ASB they know they can just get away with it.
Not everyone has a smart phone or knows how to use apps!!!
All of our road sweepers are the same but as soon as they've cleaned up more litter is added - without bins, a bottle and can deposit return scheme and more fines for littering nothing will improve 😞
There is likely the same amount of money spent on sponsored posts and advertising on social media that could also be scrapped. We don’t need sponsored posts from brent council or the leader. Axe all social media staff and focus on the website. The council are a monopoly so we know where to go look.
It is not our role to report what should be obvious, that streets need regular cleaning rota, through apps.
Well it’s definitely the vast majority
Ours have been utterly useless too, better off not having them at all
Your comments just show you speak for the sake of saying something not thinking or adding any real value to the thread. Maybe you should think of something else that can be done about it other than knee jerk reactions which Brent clearly doesn’t have the resources to enforce fully. If people’s behaviours changed that would be a free long term gain. And while we’re on the topic of police what are you doing to push them into action? Never see them around!
Labour in power they can do what they want, would you say the same about all the Lib Dem leaflets flying around being delivery by Daniel’s no less?
Are people even commenting on the correct posts around here 😂
All honed in on the blue sacks rather than the thinking that the app is actually incredible efficient. Time for action over complaining perhaps?
What’s your solution then??? Just throw money at it??? When there are working solutions which are forward looking??? Moving with the time and tech??? How long can you live in the past for??? Do we cater for the masses or for the minority???
“What are the working solutions”?
Are you serious? Councils have known how to keep streets clean from the dawn of councils. If there is enough money to give profits to private companies out of them being too lazy to run a service in house, then there is enough money for regular scheduled street cleans
I guess Westminster have the solution. They make Veolia deliver clean streets.
Both Brent and Croydon are permanent developments, where distress and disorder fuels a lucrative towering over-growth process. Watch out for squatter camps on a park near your children's playgrounds soon.
You should be cater for all council tax paying residents equally!!!
It's only efficient if your reports are acted on and updated.
We've reported things which have never been actioned.
It’s everyone’s role now. Either do it or don’t complain - you can’t have it both ways.
Too lazy? Expand
To "Anonymous24 April 2025 at 08:40" - isn't it clear what should be done?
1. Catch and fine the street drinkers who gather in the same locations EVERYDAY, dropping their drinkers litter!!!
2. Bring in a bottle and can deposit return scheme!!!
Make councillors accountable - they should respond to all residents who contact them and they should attend Police Safer Neighbourhood Meetings.
"Residents will still be entitled to one free collection each year for up to four items"
https://harrowonline.org/2025/04/20/bulky-waste-collections-in-harrow-doubled-to-meet-demand/
By "lazy," I mean an institutional laziness. a preference for outsourcing basic responsibilities rather than doing the work of managing them properly. Running services in-house requires effort: hiring staff, managing teams, overseeing quality, responding to public complaints, and being accountable for outcomes. It’s easier for councils to hand the whole task to a private company, sign a contract, and then blame that company when things go wrong, rather than putting in the hard, ongoing work of actually delivering the service themselves. It’s a laziness of leadership and governance, not of individual workers. It’s a structural reluctance to take ownership and do the job properly and in the process millions is going to profit instead of service delivery.
I’d imagine the initial cost to do this would be high?
1. Think you’re aware that the resources don’t exist to enforce this fully, 2. Lobby the govt
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