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Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales has announced that the borough’s waste collection and street cleaning services are not being put out to the private sector.
The Mayor joined Chief Executive Joe Duckworth at the council’s Folkestone Road depot in East Ham on Monday (December 1) to tell workers the news.
Sir Robin said: “We have seen some improvement in refuse and cleansing services, but this is just the start. We know there is still a lot of work to be done.
“The decision to keep services in house will allow us to concentrate on driving up quality. We must make sure there is no let up in the effort and commitment to provide services that people deserve.”
Chief Executive Joe Duckworth added: “We know cleanliness of the streets is a top priority of residents and we want to be in a position where we are operating consistently good services. We will be constantly reviewing our progress and future options.”
In July last year refuse collectors and street cleaners were challenged to show that they could offer a better service than others being delivered in the private sector. At that stage waste and cleansing services were below what residents deserved and the council recognised improvement was needed.
Officers began comparing private sector prices and methods of working with what was happening in the borough. Because there has been noticeable improvements in services, the decision has been made to keep them in-house. The Mayor will formally ratify it on Thursday.
Changes that have helped drive up performance include:
- Streets being cleaned for longer periods of time and working patterns of staff changed
- Changes to refuse and recycling collection times to ensure fewer missed collections
- The number of orange bags given to residents has doubled to help them to recycle more of their household waste.
