Waste scrutiny
Published
Tuesday 21 May, 2024
Updated
Tuesday 21 May, 2024
We have reviewed the roll out of our waste contract with Suez Recycling and Recovery UK , which began in March 2024, and agreed recommendations for future working practices within the council.
A cross-party member working group carried out a scrutiny review on the contract following several months of disruption for many residents.
From the start of the contract and throughout the review period, council staff have been working on solutions with Suez, through a recovery plan.
These solutions have seen the majority of Swale’s collections return to normal service.
The review worked to identify the root causes of the problems with the start of the new waste contract and identify what lessons can be learnt.
The group carried out a range of workshops and interviews with staff from both the council and Suez, and reviewed feedback from more than 2,000 responses to the public survey.
The data used for monitoring the contract was also examined, as well as the process used to create the bin collection rounds.
This work led to 23 recommendations from the group, which were discussed and agreed by the Environment and Climate Change Committee at a meeting on Wednesday 15 January.
The recommendations cover:
- the levels of training
- how the contract is monitored, including CCTV
- staff resourcing, for the council and Suez
- data availability and reliability
- the impact of new developments on the waste service
- closer working with vulnerable properties
- continuous scrutiny throughout the process
- Internal and external communication
We will continue working with Suez to bring about the additional benefits of the new contract.
You can read the review's conclusions and recommendations here.
Supporting documents:
Summary of recommendations
Waste and street cleansing scrutiny scope
Waste and street cleaning scrutiny public survey
Survey results summary
Summary of Member responses
Feedback from area committees
Tender project timeline
