The Area Co-ordinator will present a report (Document “O”) which is the annual report on street cleansing, environmental enforcement and council wardens. The report also provides information about the merger of the parks Service into Neighbourhood and Customer Services.

Recommended –

(1)          That the information in Document “O” be noted and welcomed.

(2)       That a further report be presented in 2019 outlining a new operational model based on constituency working.

(Corporate/Regeneration & Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committees)

(Damien Fisher/Louise Williams – 01274 437146/431066)

The Area Co-ordinator presented a report (Document “O”) which provided the annual report on street cleansing, environmental enforcement and council wardens. The report also provided information about the merger of the parks Service into Neighbourhood and Customer Services.

The Area Co-ordinator provided a summary of the report, emphasising the need for a service re-design due to a shrinking budget and stated that the merger of the Parks and Street Cleansing services would provide more opportunities for joined up working and closer synergies.  He spoke of the two different Warden roles; Council Wardens and Neighbourhood Wardens.  He informed Members that details of the new ways of working would be submitted to the Committee during 2019.  He also stated that, in terms of the percentage of streets failing on litter and detritus levels, the Shipley constituency was performing well with the lowest levels across the district and with the least number of complaints received by the Enforcement Team.

In response to Members’ questions, it was reported that:

·         In the new structure there would be 32 Council Wardens and 41 Neighbourhood Wardens.

·         All Wardens would be performance managed.

·         It was likely that some Wardens would be based in Shipley town centre but managed centrally from Bradford city centre.

·         There were 130 full time equivalent staff employed in the Street Cleansing service.

·         There was no cost associated with splitting the role of Wardens and the costs associated with changes in uniform were not yet known.

·         Wardens would be working the same shift times with more flexibility e.g. around school start/finish times when required.

·         The reduction in Street Cleansing resources (the loss of 25 frontline staff and five mechanical sweepers) was being implemented following a decision made by the Executive.

·         There were currently 16 mechanical sweepers and this number would be reduced to 11.

·         Broken glass, road traffic accident and drug litter were examples of litter complaints which were classed as emergencies.

·         Whilst the number of complaints regarding litter in the Baildon ward had increased, the numbers were still considered relatively small.

·         The service was getting better at detecting areas most in need to deploy resources to with the use of new software as well as engaging with Members to determine ‘hot spot’ areas.

A Member commented that there needed to be litter bins at bus stops.

The Chair requested that the Area Co-ordinator circulate to Members the list of the 23 new gateway routes as outlined in paragraph 2.11 of his report.

The Area Co-ordinator suggested that a Members working group be set up.

Resolved –

(1)          That the information in Document “O” be noted.

(2)          That a further report be presented in 2019 outlining a new operational model based on constituency working.

(3)          That the Area Co-ordinator be requested to set up a Members Working Group to be involved in the new process.

(4)          That the Street Cleansing, Environmental Enforcement and Council Warden Services staff be thanked for the day-to-day work they undertake in difficult circumstances.

OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: Corporate/Regeneration & Environment

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place