Wealden district council has agreed on a recovery plan with its waste collection contractor, Kier, after reports of an “appalling” level of service over recent weeks.
Kier is the waste collections contractor for four councils in the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership area which includes Wealden. It had been having difficulties completing collections for a number of weeks in July in the Wealden area due to driver shortages and vehicle breakdowns, according to the local authority.
Kier currently holds the waste collections contract with four East Sussex councils, including Wealden district council
The council, which is based in Hailsham, said that parts of the district have suffered “significant disruption” which has been put down to Kier collecting bins a day behind schedule. The waste firm is collects 90,000 bins a week in Wealden.
Kier will be leaving the contract under a mutually agreement in less than 12 months time.
Due to an “unacceptable” build-up of recyclables at bring sites the council brought in a temporary contractor to clear the over flow.
Bring sites
In a meeting of the council’s cabinet in July, Councillor Roy Galley, cabinet member for waste management said: “The service we are receiving from Kier at the moment is appalling and there is no immediate prospect of that getting significantly better. We can’t allow this situation to continue, so we have notified Kier that we are going to exercise our step in right, so that we can take over part of the contract to clear some of the bring sites.”
Cllr Galley continued: “We are putting a lot of pressure on Kier, we are working with them constantly to solve this problem, they ought to be managing the contract properly, and they aren’t.”
One of the main issues with the service has been a shortage of qualified drivers, impacting collections, the council said.
It noted that measures were being put in place with Kier’s agency suppliers to address this and that Kier had managed to get more vehicles out to respond to the delays.
Recovery plan
Following the cabinet meeting, Cllr Roy Galley met with Kier’s managing director for housing maintenance and environmental services, David Mawson to agree on a recovery plan.
“I am very pleased that Kier has acknowledged the issues they are facing and have developed a plan to address these.”
Cllr Roy Galley
Wealden district council
According to the authority, Mr Mawson acknowledged the recent difficulties on behalf of Kier and apologised for the disruption and inconvenience caused to local residents. “He assured Cllr Galley that Kier remains committed to both improving and then maintaining the standard of service through to the end of the current contract in June 2019,” the council reported.
“I am very pleased that Kier has acknowledged the issues they are facing and have developed a plan to address these,” said Cllr Galley. “I was reassured by its commitment to maintain services through to the end of the contract. We must continue to keep a close eye on progress.”
When contacted by letsrecycle.com, a spokesperson for Kier said: “We are committed to offering a reliable service to the residents of Wealden and we are pleased to confirm that the recovery plan we put in place with Wealden district council on the 20 July 2018 is proving effective. We have implemented several measures, including additional vehicles and crews, as well as an additional workshop in Amberstone to support the daily rounds.
“Wealden district council continues to keep residents informed of our performance through its website and we are pleased to report our performance is improving week-on-week. We will continue to monitor and review our service closely and we would like to thank residents for their patience during this time.”
Partnership
As well as Wealden, the Partnership includes Eastbourne and Hastings borough councils and Wealden and Rother district council. Kier was awarded a 10-year contract with the four councils, which started in April 2013. However, last year Kier agreed to an early end to the contract due to ‘significant’ change in the recycling market (see letsrecycle.com story).
Kier’s contract with the partnership is now due to end in summer 2019.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
