An opposition politician described the council’s approach to missed rubbish collections as “like whack-a-mole” with Conservatives and Greens planning to quiz cabinet members later this week.
Councillors spoke out as a report to Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet was published and said that missed collections had more than doubled from 573 late last year to 1,369 in the past three months.
The report also catalogued some of the continuing problems at Cityclean, the council’s rubbish and recycling services, including reports of a death threat to a manager and sabotage.
Labour council leader Bella Sankey vowed to get a grip on the problems besetting the bin depot after an independent external report by barrister Aileen McColgan which highlighted bullying, intimidation and violence.
And last year, GMB Sussex tweeted a threat to bring chaos in response to attempts by the council to change the culture at Cityclean.
Green councillor Ollie Sykes said that the latest report appeared to show “memory loss” after reviews by the Local Government Association in 2017 and former trade union leader Gerry Doherty in 2019 resulted in no action.
Making reference to the GMB tweets about chaos – since taken down – Councillor Sykes said: “Those tweets preceded, in a short timeframe, major issues at the depot in terms of vandalism, sabotage of a vehicle.
“Did the council leader, Bella Sankey, take advice from police, legal counsel or others about approaching the GMB? About potential criminality? And if not, why not?”
Councillor Sykes plans to ask why missed collections have increased and whether the Labour administration is in control of the situation.
Conservative deputy leader Anne Meadows said that she had received several complaints about missed rubbish collections and said that the council should be more open about the problems at Cityclean.
Councillor Meadows, who represents Patcham and Hollingbury, said: “I would suggest if the council actually admitted that poor conduct and behaviour at the depot was what was behind it, they might have more sympathy from residents.
“Unfortunately, the line they’ve been giving us is that the problems are the change from paper to digital – and most residents do not understand why that should impact on service delivery because that’s more like a back-office function.
“I did suggest if they want to have residents’ support to highlight the fact that there has been this poor behaviour which does impact on service delivery.”
Conservative leader Alistair McNair has also received many complaints from residents, particularly in Rustington Road, Hollingbury, where he said that collections had been missed for weeks.
Councillor McNair, who also represents Patcham and Hollingbury, said that nothing seems to happen until he gets involved, adding: “It’s inconsistent. It’ll be Rustington Road for a couple of weeks then another place.
“It’s like whack-a-mole. You never know where it’ll pop up next. Residents do report it but we (councillors) don’t often find out from them until it’s really bad.”
Residents have been advised to leave their bins on the kerbside for 48 hours. Councillor McNair is concerned whether collections made within the longer timeframe were counted as late.
Councillor Sankey reminded residents and colleagues that she had promised a zero-tolerance approach to bullying at Cityclean.
She said: “Our staff deserve a safe working environment free from intimidation and our residents deserve an excellent service and we will do everything necessary to deliver both.
“Because of the culture and systemic under-investment, long-standing service development issues have not been prioritised. I’m really pleased to see we’re now in a place where they can be addressed.
“Ensuring we have a waste and recycling service that keeps our city clean, tidy and accessible is an absolute priority.”
The council’s cabinet is due to consider the latest report on Cityclean on Thursday (15 May) at Hove Town Hall. The meeting is scheduled to start at 2pm and to be webcast.
Councillor Meadows, who represents Patcham and Hollingbury, said: “I would suggest if the council actually admitted that poor conduct and behaviour at the depot was what was behind it, they might have more sympathy from residents.
The idea that residents will accept it better if we can blame the workers! Think about that. Disgraceful way to think. The workers – who do a job that most of us couldn’t do, rather be on the dole than empty bins – have been demonised and scapegoated on repeat for other people’s failings – meanwhile the KC report the councillors keep bringing up has still not been published in full. The report’s criticism of management and councillors is still hush-hush.
What a load of dribble. If they update the fleet half the issues would be gone as some are well past their workable life and should be destined for scrap.
The amount of broken trucks with ranging issues in the depot is ridiculous. Getting a bulb change apparently can take up to 2hrs by one of the crews. Bigger repairs don’t get done and trucks get mothballed till someone signs it off
They do all they can to blame the workforce but it might be time to look up the tree, not down it
Good point re the KC report. Not only has the full report never been published, the bits that were published and which made allegations about councillors were never investigated further either – including the bit which said “A number of witnesses indicated that there were close links between the Labour administration and GMB reps within the Council and concerns were expressed to me that highly confidential information passed between the administration and GMB reps within the Council.”
The KC report does make clear that some staff were involved in problematic behaviour, but it’s wrong for councillors to investigate only accusations made against staff and to refuse to investigate accusations made against councillors – both are which are made in the 2023 KC report.
Labour said they’s sort out the bins back in 2017… Still waiting…
Management time is spent trying to identify a scapegoat for their own inadequacies and failings. It’s not rocket science and the lack of engagement with the workforce and their representatives leads to the problems we are experiencing now. The problem is that management is either out of its depth, lazy or simply incapable. Top-heavy institution that needs a good clear out.
Alas, I do not see the food-waste collection succeeding if Cityclean continues in this manner
To sound like a broken record – we live within smelling distance of the plant itself. Our mixed recycling has been collected once since Christmas, after constant emails to City Clean and the glass has not been collected at all. Everything goes in the bin now because of it, which is now over-full. Have emailed weekly for months to no avail. Can’t remotely imagine food waste collections working in this system.