Thousands of bins are still being missed most weeks despite a big improvement in collections rates, according to council figures.
More than 98 per cent of rubbish bins were emptied in 12 out of 26 weeks in the first six months of this year, according to Brighton and Hove City Council.
But with some 40,000 bins due to be emptied each day – or about 200,000 a week – the missed collections add up, fuelling criticism from councillors who receive complaints from those affected.
While the hot weather has caused problems in the past few months, the icy weather in January made the biggest dent in collection rates, with just three-quarters of bins emptied in the first full week of the year.
Five council workers were injured in the freezing temperatures, Labour councillor Tim Rowkins told colleagues in January.
Collection rates fell below 90 per cent in the final week of May as temperatures started to soar and were at slightly more than 92 per cent for the last two weeks of June.
The first week in April was the only week when the collection rate reached 100 per cent, according to the council.
The food waste collection service has fared better, with a rate of more than 99 per cent for 14 out of the 18 weeks since the service went city-wide in March after a phased start.
All food waste boxes were collected for four of those 14 weeks. The lowest collection rate since March – 94 per cent – came in the third week of June.
Recycling rates topped 99 per cent for seven weeks, with the lowest rate – 81 per cent – recorded in the first full week of January.
The council started recording completed collections electronically last November, making January to June the first six-month period when officials could monitor how well the service was doing so accurately.
Conservative leader Alistair McNair raised the “appalling” rate of missed collections in his ward – Patcham and Hollingbury – at a meeting of the full council last month.
After seeing the official figures for the first six months, Councillor McNair recognised the “poor” experience in his ward in late June and early last month as temperatures rose.
He said that he had raised the continuing problems with the officials who run the council’s rubbish and recycling service – rebranded from Cityclean to environmental services – and with the council’s chief executive.
Hotspots tended to be at the end of the bin rounds, he said. The roads affected included Mackie Avenue, Highfield Crescent, Carden Avenue, Ditchling Crescent, Braybon Avenue, Haywards Road, Surrenden Road, Overhill Drive, Denton Drive, Wilmington Way and Portfield Avenue.
Councillor McNair said: “While we are told missed collections are logged by crews automatically with the new digital system so there is no need for residents to report missed collections via the website, residents are frustrated that this does not seem to result in an automatic catch-up collection.
“There is no reassuring message to residents about when exactly the next catch-up collection will take place. They are left hoping.
“Indeed, residents report streets being missed two weeks or more in a row – occasionally for three or four weeks – so missed roads do not seem to be treated as a priority.”
Councillor McNair said that he would like to see the collection figures for each ward routinely sent to the relevant ward councillors.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Mark Earthey said that his ward, Rottingdean and West Saltdean, had similar problems, with roads at the end of the rounds often missed when workers ran out of time.
Councillor Earthey said: “Any glitches or delays encountered in the system start to accumulate – and when the system breaks, Saltdean is at the back end.
“If a route is taking five to ten minutes longer than it should and the teams on the Saltdean routes run out of hours, the last roads are missed off.”
One of Councillor Earthey’s frustrations, he said, was that the missed streets were not added to the next day’s round.
Independent councillor Peter Atkinson, who represents North Portslade, said that general rubbish and food waste collections were going well in his ward but there were blips with recycling.
Councillor Atkinson said that there was still some way to go before recycling collections could be considered reliable.
He added: “As Councillor Rowkins has said, residents need to see an efficient service with a quick catch-up of missed collections before they are ready to consider two-weekly refuse collections.”
Councillor Rowkins said that the council was investing heavily in the rubbish and recycling service, with digital monitoring, new vehicles and equipment and an expanding range of items that could be recycled.
To improve reliability, the council had invested £1.3 million in more mechanics and management, extra vehicles and contractual support.
Councillor Rowkins said: “The overwhelming majority of these (collections) are made on time.
“However, we do know how frustrating it can be if a collection is missed and that this can impact confidence in our service.
“There are many reasons why a collection can be missed, including vehicle breakdowns, staff shortages, sickness, access issues and severe weather, including icy conditions and periods of extreme heat.
“But we are determined to deliver the level of service the city and its residents expect and deserve which is why we will continue to invest in this service – reducing missed collections, keeping more vehicles on the road and giving frontline teams the support they need to deliver a more reliable refuse, recycling and food waste service for residents.”
