Agenda item

Report of the Director - Neighbourhoods

The Service Manager Neighbourhoods introduced the Streetwise Report which provided a high level overview of the insourcing of Streetwise, future focus and performance information. He introduced the Streetwise Manager appointed a year ago who presented an update to the Group

The Streetwise Manager said that initial tasks of the Council had been to review various operations of Streetwise, including the management structure, the existing business including asking customers for feedback, scheduling of works, forward planning of works, the consistency and quality of work and the embracing of technology to improve and streamline operations.

The Streetwise Manager explained that a focus for the Council was Health and Safety due to the number of high risk works carried out by the Teams and as such it had created eight golden rules, which included new floor markings to segregate vehicles and pedestrians, a new induction and onboarding process, refreshed Toolbox Talks and regular staff briefing sessions, updated risk assessments and working practises, creating a competency matrix for different departments, investment in training, investment in machinery and equipment servicing and implementation of electronic driver checks to monitor compliance.

The Streetwise Manager said that the Council had invested in depot improvements, such as creating an open plan office to help with communication, closer working and sharing of best practice. This was also well used as a central base for recent flooding responses. He said that Streetwise also had a new website which allowed it to streamlined enquiries through the Customer Contact Centre and create a resource for all Streetwise related information. He said that it also provided facility to report problems online which then came directly to the Team.

In relation to the works programme, the Streetwise Manager said that Streetwise were carrying out splitter cleansing removing weeds from roads and were about to apply for funding to support chewing gum cleansing which would be focused on town centres within the Borough.

In relation to high speed road cleansing, the Streetwise Manager said that the Team were working in partnership with agencies such as Highways England to close roads overnight to allow work to take place as much as possible. He said that Streetwise were supporting litter picking through the Rushcliffe Litter Champions providing equipment to community groups and school volunteers. He said that Streetwise had also purchased five 2 Minute litter picking stations which provided litter picking tools for residents to use, which were currently being trialled in Ruddington, Radcliffe on Trent and Bingham.

The Streetwise Manager informed the Group about successful grounds maintenance work and noted that there 30 no mow areas across the Borough and that the Teams managed the grounds for the new Rushcliffe Oaks crematorium and Bingham Arena. He said that the Tree Team had reduced to one team of four which had allowed it to focus on Rushcliffe work. He also noted the successful unscheduled and more reactive work carried out by the Teams, such as delivering sand bags or dealing with paint spills and fly tipping.

In relation to staff and performance management, the Group were informed that recent staff survey results had found that 100% of staff thought it was a good place to work and 95% were content in the management of the service area. Streetwise had received much positive thanks from members of the public and a recent Peer Review had reported that Rushcliffe was the cleanest Borough that they had visited.

Looking to the future, the Streetwise Manager said that the focus would continue to be on the Borough, to build relationships with key partners and build its sales and marketing Strategy to better sell services, to look at cost reduction and explore apprenticeship options in addition to their current business support apprentice. Streetwise were expecting to shortly take receipt of two new road sweepers which would enable a review of the sweeper schedule.

The Chair asked whether parish councils had been informed that the most direct and efficient way to contact Streetwise was through their new website where possible and the Streetwise Manager said that presentations had been given at the parish conference and he wanted to continue to be available to support them.

The Chair referred to litter picking and communications as he thought that many residents wouldn’t be aware of the litter picking stations and activities. The Streetwise Manager confirmed that communications were taking place and that the Team was linking in with the Great British Spring Clean currently. He said that a member of the Team had visited a school in Ruddington last week to talk about littering and the benefits of recycling. He said that there would also be benefit in talking to schools about graffiti and the costs to remove it. The Streetwise Manager said that he would share a list of litter picking groups with the Group.

The Chair asked whether the current wet weather had impacted on pitch management and the Streetwise Manager confirmed that it had and that it was currently impacting on grass cutting.

Councillor Matthews referred to scheduling of works and suggested that it would improve public confidence if Councillors and the public were able to view a timetable of planned works. The Service Manager Neighbourhoods said that the Team would be keen to provide this but clarified that Streetwise was not responsible for drainage emptying which was carried out by the County Council.

Councillor Parekh asked about plans for future locations for litter picking boards, particularly on new housing developments and the Streetwise Manager said that the scheme was being trialled at the moment, with plans to rotate the boards around hotspots in the Borough.

Councillor Parekh asked whether Streetwise had contracts with housing development management companies and the Service Manager Neighbourhoods confirmed that it did not currently work on behalf of any management companies.

Councillor Fletcher commended Streetwise operatives for their work getting out sandbags so efficiently during the recent flooding and asked whether it would be possible to store them locally. The Streetwise Manager confirmed that there were plans to work more closely with community stores to facilitate speedy access as Streetwise vehicle access could sometimes also be impacted by flooding. The Teams also worked with the local parish council flood resilience groups to enable residents to be take proactive action in preparing themselves by buying their own sandbags in advance.

In relation to grounds maintenance and cutting and no mow areas, Councillor Billin said that various agencies appeared to be responsible for various pieces of work and asked whether it would be possible to have a unified programme of work, to enable a parish council to take over some of the work. The Streetwise Manager said that he would take this away to review options.

Councillor Billin asked about education materials that could be shared with schools and parishes and the Streetwise Manager said that the Team wanted to be visible and would be happy to attend ward surgeries and attend parish meetings. He thought that much school communication was now electronic and he would look to at what information could be shared with the Group.

Councillor Plant referred to the £100k savings and the Service Manager Neighbourhoods explained that this had been achieved in part through increasing Streetwise’s buying power, a reduction of wastage and not filling tree team vacancies.

Councillor Plant asked about performance indicators, in particular the 100% for dog fouling and the Service Manager Neighbourhoods said that these were measured by the Council to an industry national standard. He explained that the Borough was divided into various transects which would be walked to assess litter and dog fouling and that Officers were not finding significant dog fouling in areas. He said that the Council rarely received complaints about dog fouling but would take action if it became aware of any.

Councillor Wells asked whether it would be possible for the Council to provide information about anti-flooding products and the Service Manager Neighbourhoods said that the Council had provided grants to residents who had been regularly affected by flooding to help with flood defences. Whilst it would not be appropriate for the Council to sell products it could look at further education about measures that residents could take themselves.

The Chair thanked Streetwise for their hard work in making Rushcliffe such a clean Borough.

It was RESOLVED that the Communities Scrutiny Group considered the information provided and provided feedback on the overall performance of Streetwise.