The problem of overflowing bins...
...and dumping
Brent Council officers have supplied Cllr Suzanne Gallagher (Green Party Kilburn Councillor) with further information on how the extra resources in the 12 month variation of the Veolia contract will be deployed:
Distribution of Resources
Could officers please advise:
1. How the additional litter pickers will be allocated across the borough.
The deployment of the additional litter pickers will be flexible to account for emerging pressures on a day to day basis. Each Brent Connects area will receive 1x extra dedicated litter picker.
2. How many of the additional litter-picking resources are expected to be deployed within Kilburn Ward.
As above. There will be 1 litter picker for your Brent Connects are, and any deployment specifically within Kilburn ward will be determined on a day to day basis depending on need and other priorities.
3. Whether there is a ward-by-ward or area-by-area breakdown of the anticipated allocation of resources.
The additional litter picking resource is being applied on a Brent Connects area basis. The mechanical sweeping and the two additional fly-tip clearance teams are being deployed on a north of Brent and south of Brent basis.
4. What criteria have been used to determine where the additional resources will be deployed.
Neighbourhood Mangers will determine the day to day deployment through discussion with their counterparts at Veolia. The decision-making will reflect monitoring outcomes and FMS data.
5. Whether historic complaint data, Fix My Street reports, fly-tipping reports or cleanliness indicators were used in determining allocations.
Yes, this will be helpful in determining day to day deployment.
Housing Estates Trial
The decision refers to a trial of an additional vehicle and two-person crew for Brent Housing Estates. Could officers please advise:
6. Which estates will be included within the trial.
A select range of the most challenging estate locations across Brent.
7. Whether any estates within Kilburn Ward or the wider South Kilburn area will benefit from the additional resource.
Blocks at Stafford Road, Malvern Road, Cambridge Road,
William Dunbar House, William Saville House
Gorefield House, Canterbury Court
8. How estates were selected for inclusion in the trial.
A review of historic issues and ongoing difficulties.
9. What specific services the additional crew will provide.
Rubbish clearance form grounds and bin stores
10. How the success of the trial will be measured.
A basic assessment only of any improvement in visual amenity.
11. What performance indicators will be used to determine whether the trial should become a permanent service.
Basic improved visual amenity, and value for money.
Service Improvements and Outcomes
12. What baseline cleanliness standards or performance measures are currently being used against which the success of the investment will be assessed.
We measure cleanliness based on national guidelines relating to levels of litter that are visibly present.
13. What specific improvements the Council expects residents to see as a result of the £1.54m investment.
We seek only reduced levels of litter and dumped waste and better visual amenity and cleansing standards.
14. How councillors and residents will be able to monitor whether the additional expenditure is delivering value for money.
Through a general appreciation of improved cleansing standards at problem locations.
15. Whether there will be any public reporting of outcomes associated with these additional services.
This is yet to be determined with the Lead Member, but may be similar to reporting against NCIL funding for similar activity last year.
Contract Performance
Residents frequently raise concerns with councillors regarding street cleansing standards despite the existence of significant contracts with both Veolia and Krinkels. I would therefore be grateful if officers could advise:
16. To what extent the decision to provide additional funding reflects increased demand pressures as opposed to shortcomings in existing service provision.
The funding is necessary to improve standards beyond what the current contract is resourced to achieve. The current contract meets its current KPIs in relation to cleansing, so this will create an enhancement.
17. Whether any lessons from resident complaints, Members' Enquiries, Fix My Street reports or service performance monitoring informed the decision to increase investment.
Yes, this information establishes the correct locations and the overall demand for greater intervention.
18. Whether the Council considers that existing contractual service levels have been sufficient to meet resident expectations.
Current KPIs are being met. Demand is increasing most definitely, however, and the current contract scope was much reduced in order to remain affordable at the time of award.
19. Whether any performance concerns have been raised with contractors in relation to litter, cleansing, weed control, fly-tipping or estate cleanliness.
The contract is currently meeting its KPI commitments in relation to cleansing.
Kilburn and South Kilburn
Given the persistent concerns raised by residents regarding locations including the South Kilburn estates, could officers specifically advise:
20. What proportion of the additional investment is expected to benefit Kilburn Ward.
Not established, and will be determined on a day to day basis.
21. Whether any hotspot locations within Kilburn have been identified for enhanced cleansing activity.
The focus will be on those estates mentioned, and areas of high footfall, and those locations that are subject to repeated incidences of fly-tipping. Raakesh will be able to advise in terms of the specifics, and will gladly receive your recommendations, etc.
22. Whether officers anticipate a measurable improvement in cleanliness standards within Kilburn as a result of this investment and, if so, how that improvement will be assessed.
Yes, the intention is to provide an enhanced service to make areas cleaner. Improvement will be assessed through joint inspections with Veolia.
8 comments:
Usual vague answers from the Council. Remember the extra resources have only been agreed for 12 months and litter picking is not the same as proper sweeping.
All sounds quite vague and non-commital. For instance "5. Whether historic complaint data, Fix My Street reports, fly-tipping reports or cleanliness indicators were used in determining allocations.
Yes, this will be helpful in determining day to day deployment." The question was whether such reports HAD been used, the response talks about their use in the future. In the past, monitoring of Veolia's performance has been done by Veolia (seriously). Is that changing? This all seems far too little to address serious problems.
I dont understand why money is being spend t on additional fly-tip clearance teams. Veolia and Brent have failed to manage the problem competently and tax payers will ultimately have to foot the bill. There needs to be better accountability built onto any new provision of funds.
Please tell that to the Labour and Tory Councillors who refused to support the call for a closer look at what the current contract covers, how the contractor is performing and to develop a better approach to keeping Brent street clean.
This latest information reported by Wembley Matters shows exactly why asking questions about the existing Veolia contract matters.
Brent is committing an additional £1.54m to expand street-cleansing and related services. We are told that the existing contract is meeting its cleansing KPIs. Yet the answers reported here include some surprisingly broad measures for assessing the additional expenditure - including a “basic assessment” of improved visual amenity and a “general appreciation” of improved cleansing standards at problem locations.
That raises an important value-for-money question: before paying for more, how confident are we that Brent is getting what it already pays for?
It’s worth understanding what Veolia is already contracted to deliver. After cleansing, the required standard is Grade A - meaning no litter or refuse. In other words, no cigarette butts, cans, bottles, cups, wrappers or other discarded waste should remain. Brent’s contract documentation says Veolia is measured on the level of cleanliness achieved after cleansing, rather than simply how often a street is cleaned.
Yet residents continue to raise concerns about dirty streets, and I regularly see conditions myself that raise legitimate questions about whether the headline performance figures tell the whole story.
So take a look at your local high street or town centre after it has been cleaned. Does it look Grade A to you?
This is precisely why the decision to spend the additional £1.54m was called in for scrutiny. The issue was never whether we want cleaner streets - of course we do. Some of the additional money genuinely widens the scope of the contract, including additional litter picking, night-time cleansing and a weekend rapid-response service.
But before committing significant additional public money, surely we should first be satisfied that the cleansing standards already required under the existing contract are actually being delivered.
And if the KPIs tell us those standards are being met while what residents see on some of our streets suggests otherwise, then we need to ask: are we measuring the right things, and is contract performance being monitored robustly enough?
This is about cleaner streets, proper accountability and value for taxpayers’ money.
Residents deserve all three.
Cllr Fiona Mulaisho Liberal Democrat Councillor, Queen’s Park Ward
Brent Connects neighbourhoods cover 3 to 8 wards
https://www.brent.gov.uk/neighbourhoods-and-communities/have-your-say/brent-connects
Get rid of some of the highly paid, final salary council officers who have failed to solve the issues in our borough - we hear that they themselves live in lovely places like Windsor and Oxford!
Today I witnessed a Veolia refuse truck in Ealing Road, Wembley - the crew were emptying wheelie bins and leaving a trail of litter behind them on the road as items fell out of the bins as they were loaded onto the truck for emptying, however they made no attempt to pick up this waste.
And then I saw some fly tipped rubbish in Chaplin Road and a Veolia truck pulled up on double yellow lines - I thought they were going to pick up the fly tipping, but no - they had only pulled in to drop of one of their workers, who then wandered off up the road clutching his coat and bag, and then the truck drove off leaving behind the fly tipping even though they could clearly see this from their truck.
It's no wonder our streets are such a mess.😡
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