Southampton local election key issues: bin collections

Residents at times have had to wait weeks for their wheelie bins to be emptied after the city council introduced a new working practice.

Thousands of missed collections have been reported each month.

In January, the local authority moved from a task and finish arrangement, which allowed workers to finish early if their rounds were complete, to having to complete their contracted hours.

This change has led to major disruption to the service, with a special scrutiny committee meeting held in March to discuss the problem.

Ahead of the local elections on Thursday, May 2, we asked all the parties who are fielding candidates about their take on the bin collection problem.

Conservative – Group leader Daniel Fitzhenry

We would ensure the bins are collected on time and our streets are clean.

We would sit down with the staff and work out a solution to the Labour council’s dispute and invest in the bin collection service – as we did when we were in office before, which was subsequently scrapped by Labour.

We would get the bins collected on time again.

Green – Co-ordinator Lisa Fricker

This change in working practices was agreed with the unions over two years ago. Both Unite and Unison agreed to this. Then the implementation was delayed and delayed and staff started to think it would not happen. There is being staff resistance to removing the task and finish work practice.

Due to issues in Birmingham council this change had to be done. Sadly it has resulted in a huge amount of extra work for the waste management team and their plans to get on with re-organising the rounds has had to be put on hold.

Hopefully, it will soon be resolved – again the council has had to bring in consultants to try to navigate a resolution, resulting in more cost to the city.

Labour – Group leader Lorna Fielker

I offer a sincere apology to those areas of the city that continue to be impacted by disruption to bin collections. From my perspective, any disruption to bin collections is unacceptable, it is a basic service that we must get right. Progress is being made, but I appreciate that statement is not helpful if it’s your bin that’s not collected.

I have been out with our waste collection crews recently and chatted through some of the hurdles for bin collections in our city with them. I spoke to people with a great work ethic who genuinely want to get a good job done. A significant amount of work is taking place to ensure they can do that.

What we cannot do is revert to task and finish arrangements as this working practice encouraged people to rush their work to finish early and not take the breaks they are legally required to have. It has also been classified in employment law as an unfair working practice. This leads to potential equal pay claims as staff are considered not treated fairly and equally across the council.

Liberal Democrat – Bassett ward councillor Sam Chapman

Southampton Liberal Democrats will restore reliable bin collections – and we will keep residents informed every step of the way.

Labour’s recent changes to worker conditions have disrupted refuse collection services, causing inconvenience and frustration for residents. A poorly managed initiative, this was instigated with no wider consultation or warning to residents in the city. In addition to the enforcement of booking slots to visit the city’s recycling centres, this is just the latest in a long line of policies designed to make daily life harder for residents in the city.

We are committed to restoring reliable refuse collection by working closely with council staff to find solutions that ensure fair treatment and efficient service delivery – with residents of Southampton kept informed at every step. Likewise, we are committed to reviewing the reasons for and effectiveness of implementing booking slots at the councils’ recycling centres.

Reform UK – Campaign lead Philip Crook

“It is a classic case of it works so don’t break it!”

The bin services across the city worked reasonably well with a good refuse collection team until Labour decided to meddle and break it. Reform UK candidates state that residents are fed up with the litter, the overflowing bins and rat infestations. It’s a basic core task which Labour are rubbish at!

Reform UK would meet with the refuse collection services and resolve within 24 hours, re-instating normal services within four weeks, allowing for the timetable to kick in. This is a basic core service vital for public health, the environment and for the general well being of the city and its residents.

Labour have allowed the city to become run down with rubbish, fly-tipping, grime, littering and graffiti. Reform UK working with communities, students, businesses will carry out a major city-wide clean-up campaign.

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) – Swaythling ward candidate Nick Chaffey

The latest reports suggest thousands of bins are going uncollected every week and the council is now paying a private company to pick up the backlog. We’re paying twice for a worse service. How did we get into such a mess?

Council refuse workers and members of Unite the Union have seen new working conditions imposed on them by the council. It’s clear that this decision should be reversed and bin workers be allowed to get on with their jobs as before.

In addition, we call for the restoration of weekly bin collections and free bulk waste home collections which would help to reduce fly-tipping. The state of our streets in some areas of the city is a disgrace. We should increase the street cleaning teams. Privatised refuse services should be brought back in-house and recycling services expanded city-wide.

Alongside a cost of living pay rise for all council workers we call for the introduction of a £15/hour minimum wage at the council as part of a trade union-led campaign in the city to end poverty pay.

We give our full support to Southampton TUC May Day rally on Monday, May 6, midday at the Bargate.