SOLIHULL METROPOLITAN BOROUGH COUNCIL

Report to: Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board

Meeting date: 15th January 2014

Subject/Report Title: STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT CONTRACT 2008 TO 2022 DEVELOPMENT PLAN UPDATE

Report from: Head of Environmental Services

Report Author/Lead Contact Officer:

Alan Brown

Wards affected: All Wards

Bickenhill Blythe

Castle Bromwich Chelmsley Wood

Dorridge/Hockley Heath Elmdon

Kingshurst/Fordbridge Knowle

Lyndon Meriden

Olton Shirley East

Shirley South Shirley West

Silhill Smith's Wood

St Alphege

Public/Private report:

Public

Exempt by virtue of Paragraph:

N/A

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To seek support and comment from Scrutiny Board regarding progress on the delivery of the agreed high level 10 year development plan for the Strategic Environment Contract

2. Decision(s) Recommended

2.1 Looking forward to the Waste Strategy review in 2015, do members consider that we need to review how we monitor and report performance particularly in light of there

being no individual authority recycling targets?

2.2 Do Members support carrying out an additional waste composition analysis following the introduction of the changes to the recycling service in September 2014?

2.3 Do Members support investment in education and awareness campaigns aimed at highlighting awareness of food waste – development of Love Food Hate Waste?

2.4 Do Members support the use of media such as Facebook, Twitter, and smart phone applications to promote the service instead of a reliance on direct mail?

2.5 Once the planned recycling service changes are made next year, it would be possible to have a bi-annual collection calendar – is this something that members would support?

2.6 Would Members welcome the provision of ward based information accessible through the SMBC website, allowing residents to understand key service schedule information and performance?

2.7 Do Members support the delivery of a local meaningful and well coordinated Love Solihull campaign that promotes positive environmental quality improvements through our communities, schools and businesses?

3. Background

3.1 The Strategic Environment Contract (SEC) commenced in April 2008 for an initial term of 7 years (with a review clause at year 4) the contract also offered the option to extend the contract in blocks of 7 years for a total period of up to 28 years dependant on performance. The services covered by SEC are;

Domestic Waste Collections

Kerbside Dry Recycling

Green Waste Collections

Streetcare (grounds maintenance, street cleansing, and cemeteries/burial maintenance)

Bickenhill Household Waste Recycling Centre - H.W.R.C

3.2 As Highlighted above, the contract also allowed for a review after 4 years with the possibility to extend the contract dependant on performance for a further 7 years. This review was undertaken during 2011/12. The evaluation process was undertaken by a Project Team which included officers from Corporate Procurement, Environmental Services, Customer Services, Financial Operations, and Legal Services. In addition Internal Audit was invited to join the Project Team in the role of “critical friend”. The auditor facilitated discussion on the options being considered and supported the team in challenging and assessing the contractors submissions.

3.3 The evaluation was completed in February 2012 and approval to extend the contract into a second 7 year term was agreed and endorsed by Members subject to the delivery of a number of additional cashable savings being delivered up to 2014/15.

3.4 In addition a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was also developed confirming a mutual commitment to the agreements reached with regards to the cashable savings, along with a continuing commitment to joint working to deliver further additional efficiencies and service improvements over the life of the contract.

3.5 On 12th September 2012 Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board received a report which sought support and comment on a proposed high level 10 year development plan for the councils SEC.

3.6 Members of the Scrutiny Board supported in principle the development of the contract through the following work streams;

Review of Waste Strategy

Localism and Big Society

Sub Regional and Partnership Working

Efficiency Savings

Management Transformation

Developing Quality Environment

Current Performance

3.7 The contract governance is overseen by a Strategic Board comprising of the following;

Cabinet Member for Environment & Community Services (chair)

Environment & Community Services Opposition Spokespersons (x3)

Assistant Director for Places

Amey Regional Director

3.8 The Board meets bi-monthly and receives a report from a project team made up of managers from both the Council and Amey. This project team is lead by the Councils Head of Environmental Services.

3.9 The report to the Board covers a number of areas these being;

Monitoring of operational and financial Key Performance Indicators

Risk

Problem analysis of operational issues and resolution

Future activities and planning

Operational items for decision

3.10 The high standards of operational delivery are underpinned by a rigorous governance structure which allows for most disputes to be resolved quickly and effectively through a series of operational meetings. Where problems do occur at a particular level in the process and resolution can not be agreed an escalation process is in place Appendix 1 shows the current decision making and dispute resolution process.

3.11 The strong governance arrangements currently in place have resulted in the best possible rating of a Level 1 assurance from the councils own internal audit team.

3.12 Solihull Community Housing (SCH) is a key stakeholder in the Strategic Environment Contract and through Amey we deliver a variety of Streetcare services throughout SCH Areas. This includes all low and high rise flats, communal areas and areas of open space.

3.13 As a key stakeholder and customer of the Strategic Environment Contract, it is imperative that we provide a governance mechanism that provides SCH with service information around performance, schedules, seasonal operations and value for money and the opportunities to direct and feed into the services.

3.14 Therefore, we operate the a similar separate governance mechanism with SCH, whereby items relating to SCH raised at the weekly operational meetings are then taken to a separate monthly contract meeting with SCH. Through this meeting

performance is also reported following monthly monitoring of separate KPI’s which record the level of quality audits passed on inspection following an operation and the level of customer complaints received for SCH areas during the month.

3.15 Each year representatives from SCH attend the end of year Strategic Environment Contract Board meeting to provide an overview of the services they have received, along with the opportunity to raise and discuss any issues, concerns, negative or positive feedback from their perspective as an important stakeholder and customer.

3.16 As reported at the November 2013 Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board meeting, since its inception the contract has continued to improve with regards to performance and in reducing core costs.

3.17 The initial tender exercise in 2008 yielded a £1.4 million saving compared to the cost of delivering the services covered during the preceding year. In addition as part of the councils medium term financial strategy core and support costs of the contract have been reduced by a further £1.4million alongside these efficiencies:-

Complaints are at their lowest point

Compliments are at an all time high

Customer satisfaction continues to increase

3.18 In November 2013, Defra published the annual Municipal Waste Management Statistics for 2012/13.

3.19 Solihull’s recycling performance has reduced slightly compared to the previous year and has dropped from 46% to 44% - this has been attributed to a reclassification of materials from the processing of street sweepings, which can no longer be classified as being recycling and has to be classified as landfill. Solihull is not alone in this situation, with other authorities also reporting a reduction in recycling compared to 2011/12 figures.

3.20 The following table shows how the performance of Solihull compares to the highest and lowest performing authorities in West Midlands and the nearest neighbour group.

Authority group Authority Recycling Reuse (%)

Landfill (%)

Residual household waste per household

(kg)

Collected household waste per

person (kg)

Rank Recycling

(out of 48)

Solihull 44% 9% 574 440 22

Highest recycling Rochford District Council 67% n/a 306 380 1

Highest Unitary Calderdale MBC 61% 16% 323 375 5

Highest West Mids Stratford DC 60% n/a 382 434 6

Lowest West Mids Redditch BC 29% n/a 553 327 37

Highest Peer Group Stockport MBC 61% n/a 309 352 6

Lowest Peer Group Bedford 39% 42% 645 457 27

Out of 352 English Authorities, 73 have achieved a recycling rate of 50% or more. For Comparison the types of recycling and refuse services that some of these authorities provide are summarised in the table below.

Material Stockport MBC Calderdale MBC Stratford DC

Refuse 140 litre bin – fortnightly Wheeled bin - fortnightly 240l wheeled bin - fortnightly

Garden/green waste 240l wheeled bin - weekly No collection of garden waste provided – encourage home composting

240l wheeled bin - fortnightly

Food Waste Combined with green waste weekly

25l caddy - weekly Combined with garden waste - fortnightly

Recycling Blue 240l bin – paper – fortnightly

Kerbside sort - weekly Black box, white sack, green sack, textiles

240l wheeled bin – commingled - fortnightly

Brown 240l bin – mixed recycling - Monthly

3.21 The common theme with the higher performing authorities, (as outlined above) is that they all operate fortnightly collections of refuse (this is the also the case for the top 20 performing authorities). All three authorities also collect food waste either combined with garden waste collections or instead of a garden waste collection (Calderdale). The complexity of the recycling services provided varies, with Stratford DC having the most straightforward system of collections and the fewest number of containers compared to Stockport that provides 5 different containers and three different collection frequencies for different materials.

3.22 With the planned changes to the recycling service due for implementation next year, it is anticipated that Solihull will be able to reach a recycling rate of 50%, however this is clearly well below the leading authorities in England. Again, the Strategy review will need to consider what is right for Solihull.

3.23 The contract also continues to perform well with regards to carbon reduction. A recent national assessment has been carried out using 2011/12 data from the national waste statistic reporting database Waste Dataflow. The results have identified Solihull as one of the top three authorities in England with respect to carbon savings achieved as a result of the recycling service. Solihull has been identified as a ‘High Flyer’ and scored 94 on the carbon index, this level of carbon saving has been estimated as being equivalent to each resident driving more than 500km, for information attached at Appendix 2 are the full results table for England.

3.24 Streetcare services continue to perform to a high standard, with our NI195 results at top quartile and the highest in the West Midlands and our latest satisfaction surveys showing a 94% satisfaction rate with our customers. However, considering the current financial climate and the on going need for savings and the potential for less resources, it remains imperative that Solihull look towards the long term future, identifying new ways to deliver high standards, delivering services differently and providing more for less.

3.25 Reported fly tipping also continues to reduce the table below highlights performance since the contract started in 2008;

Year Number of Fly Tips

2007/08 2858

2008/09 2296

2009/10 2446

2010/11 2907 (no side waste policy introduced)

2011/12 1284

2012/13 1154

3.26 Social media continues to form an ever growing part of modern day life and as part of the September 2012 report to Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board we reported the need to embrace and utilise this technology as a means of

communicating service information with our customers.

3.27 We have since made significant progress with social media in terms of communicating service information through the corporate social media accounts. This type of media has proved particularly successful when you need to provide instant information. A previous example of this type of instant information through social media includes the period of inclement winter weather we experienced in early 2013, whereby key changes needed to be made to front line services, which consequently needed to be communicated immediately. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter enabled us to communicate what services would be operating and how and where we would be assisting with snow and ice clearance.

4. Evaluation of Alternative Option(s)

Moving Forward

4.1 The following paragraphs of the report highlight areas of work which will be developed and implemented over the next 12 to 18 month’s.

Review of Solihull’s Waste Strategy

4.2 Solihull’s Municipal Waste Strategy is due to for review in 2015. The Strategy sets out Solihull’s targets for recycling and waste management. The review presents an opportunity to reassess the targets set in the Strategy and determine if they are still relevant and if they are sufficiently challenging and realistic.

4.3 Since the Strategy was written, the economic climate has changed and so has pressure on council budgets. When carrying out the review these factors need to be taken into consideration.

4.4 An announcement was recently made by the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) regarding their ability to support waste policy and changes in future, with Defra stating that they will be taking a reduced role with respect to driving through policy and change regarding waste and recycling.

4.5 This statement was then almost immediately followed by Defra issuing the annual municipal waste management statistics for England and stating that if current levels of recycling are sustained, England will not meet its 2020 target to recycle, compost and reuse 50% of household waste.

4.6 These are clearly challenging times for local authorities and with respect to managing waste it is becoming increasingly apparent that authorities will be left to make their own decisions, choose their own treatment methods and set their own targets with less guidance and support from Defra and the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

4.7 Therefore, it is paramount that the Strategy review sets objectives and targets that are right for Solihull, while still adhering to the fundamental principles of the waste hierarchy.

4.8 With this in mind we have already considered how we provide feedback to residents who use the Household Waste Recycling Centre and instead of reporting how much waste has been recycled – we now report how much waste has been diverted from landfill. We consider that this is an important distinction to make, as recent changes to recycling markets for wood mean that only high quality wood can now be recycled, the remainder is sent for use a substitute fuel. While the material is not being recycled, we feel that it is important to convey that it is not being sent to landfill but is being used as a valuable resource.

Waste Composition Data

4.9 In the report to the Scrutiny Board last year (September 2012), we sought support to carry out a waste composition study on the residual waste stream to obtain an understanding of the amount of potentially recyclable material that is being thrown in the black bin. This type of analysis provides valuable data, as it provides a baseline position from which to plan service changes and to target education and awareness campaigns.

4.10 In October 2013, composition analysis was carried out on bulk samples from six refuse collection rounds.

The results from the analysis are shown in the following figure.

4.11 As can be seen from the figure above, the results indicate that there is a high proportion of food waste in the residual waste stream. This is composed of food leftovers and packaged, unused food. This clearly presents a challenge for the authority with respect to the further promotion of Love Food Hate Waste to encourage residents to reduce the amount of food waste that is thrown away.

4.12 The high level of food waste is now recognised at a national level with an estimated 4.2 million tonnes of avoidable food waste being thrown away by households in the UK in 20121. WRAP is working with retailers to try to stem the growth in food waste generation – but it is clear that we all need to do more to reduce food waste.

4.13 Collecting food waste from the kerbside can result in the waste being used to generate energy particularly if it is processed using an anaerobic digestion facility, however collecting food waste only serves to treat the problem. Nationally and at a local level we should give consideration to how we can prevent the production of food waste.

4.14 As part of the Strategy review in 2015 we will consider our approach to dealing with

1 Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK 2012, WRAP, November 2013

food waste and review our options for preventing food waste and also the potential for collecting and processing food waste.

4.15 The analysis also indicates that there is still a considerable amount of potential recyclable material that is being thrown away. The high quantity of plastic film is understandable as we do not currently recycle this material and it is often contaminated with food waste as it is predominantly used in food packaging.

4.16 High levels of paper and card are still being thrown away, (10% card, 12% paper). Of the paper that was thrown away, 4% was paper that it would not be possible to recycle, however the remaining 8% could potentially be recycled. Lower levels of glass and cans are present in the residual waste, which suggests that the message regarding recycling these material streams is clearer and indicates that we need to further promote the recycling of paper, card and plastic.

4.17 The implementation of the new recycling service in September 2014, presents an opportunity to highlight all of the materials that can be recycled at the kerbside. We expect levels of recycling to increase with the introduction of the new service. This is primarily because it will be just as easy to put recycling in the bin as it is rubbish, householders will have additional capacity for recycling and we will collect additional materials. We estimate that making this change will increase our overall recycling rate by at least 5%.

4.18 For comparison, the following figure shows the waste composition data from 2010. The analysis carried out in October was to a higher level of detail and we have more confidence in the accuracy of the results compared to the 2010 analysis. The notable differences are that there is more food waste in 2013, less garden waste, glass and plastic. While, levels of paper and card remain fairly similar.

Options to increase recycling and diversion from landfill

4.19 In the September 2012 report to the Scrutiny Board, we identified various means by which it would be potentially possible to increase levels of recycling and divert more

waste from landfill. The following sections provide an update on some of those options.

Move to commingled collections for recycling

4.20 Following approval at the Environmental and Community Services Cabinet Member meeting on 19 October, we will be making changes to simplify the recycling service in September 2014, in summary we will:

Provide the majority of properties in the borough with a 240 litre brown wheeled bin for mixed recycling

Provide single use clear sacks to properties unable to accommodate a wheeled bin

Provide recycling facilities at multi-occupancy facilities that do not currently have access to recycling

Collect additional materials – textiles, cartons, aerosols and foil from the kerbside

Send mixed recycling to be processed at a material recovery facility (MRF)

4.21 By making recycling easier and accessible to more properties we expect to see an increase in our overall recycling rate.

4.22 Linked to the changes to the recycling service, we will also review the use of Mini Recycling Centres. We will consider whether the service provided at the sites should mirror the kerbside service and whether there is the potential to further reduce the number of sites provided.

Pre-sorting residual waste prior to final processing

4.23 Waste Management Company Sita, have opened a processing facility in Birmingham that takes residual waste and separates out any recoverable recyclables, then converts the remaining material into a secondary recovered fuel (SRF) which is then used as a substitute fuel at Cemex’s cement kiln in Rugby.

4.24 Instead of sending waste from Bickenhill HWRC to landfill we aim to use this contractual arrangement with Sita and divert as much waste as possible to this facility. This will increase our diversion from landfill and should also contribute to our recycling figures as some of the material will be recoverable.

4.25 This is a timely development as for the first two quarters of this year we have experienced an increase in the amount of residual waste being received at the HWRC. We need to monitor this going forward; however we believe that it may be linked to an improvement in the economy and subsequent improvement in the housing market.

Education and Awareness

4.26 To support the changes to the recycling service next year we will be running a comprehensive communications campaign. However once the changes have been embedded we need to ensure that we continue to provide householders with information and support to help them to recycle, and also to help them make decisions to prevent the generation of waste in the first place.

4.27 The results of the waste composition analysis show that a significant amount of food waste is being generated so we need to focus our efforts on moving up the waste hierarchy and encouraging waste prevention and reuse.

4.28 We will need to be creative to enable us to promote key messages while taking into account limited finances to implement schemes and initiatives. Printing and delivering leaflets/calendars is expensive – this resource could potentially be used to support key educational campaigns rather than to send out annual calendars/leaflets

to all households when this information is readily available on the council’s website.

Future Challenges

Waste Growth

4.29 As outlined in paragraph 4.25, we have observed an increase in the amount of waste being taken to the HWRC. This has resulted in an increase in the amount of waste requiring disposal.

4.30 It is acknowledged that the generation of waste is linked to the economy and during the recession we observed a reduction in the amount of waste collected and processed. Early indications suggest that waste generation may be starting to increase as the economy picks up. A number of authorities have reported an increase in waste arisings during the latter part of 2012/13 and this has been flagged up as a potential issue to Defra by Waste and Environmental professional bodies such as the Environmental Services Association and Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport.

4.31 It is notoriously difficult to predict waste growth, however we need to ensure that we take into consideration the fact that waste may increase and not all of the waste generated will be easily recycled – which will therefore have an impact on disposal/treatment costs for the authority.

4.32 Irrespective of any economic influence of on waste growth we will experience an increase in waste arisings as a result of an increasing population in the borough. We will reach a point when we will need to increase the collection fleet to cope with the increase in households. This will place an additional burden on the waste budget from both a collection and disposal/treatment perspective. For example between 2011/12 and 2012/13 the number of properties in the borough increased by 914 (according to Defra figures provided through Waste Dataflow), we estimate that this will have increased our disposal costs by approximately £28,000 a year. Looking forward, to mobilise an additional collection vehicle and crew costs in the region of £140,000 a year.

4.33 With the adoption of the Local Development Plan and proposed increase in properties identified, it is critical that we consider the implications that this will have on the resources required to deliver the waste and recycling service and sustain a high quality service.

Localism and Big Society (Community Engagement)

4.34 Through our SEC delivery partner Amey it is intended to deliver a number of initiatives the primary aim of which is to provide a measurable and relevant set of objectives that add value and support the priority needs of the community.

4.35 The commitment from Amey is that by working with the council, the third sector and other agencies they will;

Provide employment education and work experience opportunities within an identified priority area

Increase recycling rates in the Borough through educational out-reach initiatives

Upgrade community space within an identified priority area

4.36 It is intended to deliver these proposals through the following targeted areas;

Pathways to Employment

A range of targeted employment and training programmes aimed at the unemployed

and disadvantaged people with little or no job prospects.

Community Engagement

A range of interventions, to support local needs and help empower people to deliver and change their local communities.

Enterprise and Business Support

A range of programmes to support and help build capacity of Social Enterprises, voluntary organisations, charities and small and medium enterprises.

Education Programmes

A range of education programmes to support schools, colleges and business education partnerships.

Developing a Quality Environment

4.37 Solihull’s Streetcare services have developed significantly over the last 10 years. We have developed and implemented a service which provides a holistic, one pass approach through joined up, integrated Grounds Maintenance, Street Cleansing services.

4.38 As part of the Strategic Environment Contract report presented to Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board in September 2012, we identified three key areas that we needed to develop around our Streetcare Services to provide a quality environment for our residents and visitors. These 3 key areas are:

Communication and Behavioural Change

Community Engagement and Education

Enforcement

Communication and Behavioural Change

4.39 Proactive communication continues to prove imperative in providing our communities with access to the right information about our services. Despite changes to the corporate web site and the inability to update web pages during for a 6 month period, we have continued to make steady progress in providing live and easily accessible information regarding our services on our web pages. For example the recent leafing service schedule is available online and our customers were advised of this at the start of the leafing season through our Connect Centre and through proactive communications.

4.40 This level of service information makes a big difference in enabling immediate access to service information, without the need to physically telephone the Contact Centre or a Council Officer. Moving forward it is our intention to take this level of information to the next level and our aspirations are to have ward based information for all our Streetcare services. The vision is for our customers to access our website, select any road and access instant information advising them when all of our Streetcare services were previously undertaken and are next due.

4.41 This aspiration will require a level of support from our corporate ICT team in terms of the right expertise to enable this function to become reality. Initial feasibility work has been undertaken and it is possible to develop this function. Moving forward we will be working closely with the Councils corporate ICT team to implement this function by April 2015.

4.42 Moving forward and to build on the work already undertaken, it is our intention to commit to further increased use of social media, but on a much more frequent basis and more importantly, we would like to explore the possibility of specific Environmental Services social media accounts. Due to the quantity of services we

have operating throughout the borough, we believe that specific accounts are warranted and will be highly subscribed to by our customers.

Community Engagement and Education

4.43 One of the key projects outlined in the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board in September 2012, referred to adopting the national “Love Where You Live” community project, which is being driven by Keep Britain Tidy the national governing body for environmental quality. The “Love Where You Live” campaign looks at how we engage with communities, businesses and organisations to provide a joint approach to maintaining our environments.

4.44 We have undertaken a significant amount of work to map out what this campaign would look like for Solihull. However, in doing so we identified a number of issues with the national model which did not align with our aspirations for Solihull.

4.45 Firstly the main sponsors of the national campaign included Imperial Tobacco and McDonalds although the link and the reasoning behind these sponsors is clear in terms of their contribution towards littering and the consequent negative impacts on the environment. Consideration needed to be given to the other messages portrayed by working with these sponsors in terms of the implications on general health and wellbeing through the types of products that these two companies provide.

4.46 Furthermore Solihull has been a member of the national Keep Britain Tidy network for at least 15 years and this membership has over the years proved positive and beneficial in developing our cleansing services. However, at a cost of £5000 per annum, a challenge around the level of value we receive from this membership, particularly in terms of what this means to our customers needed to be made.

4.47 Therefore in October 2013 we undertook a full review of our Keep Britain Tidy membership and although we could appreciate the value of having direct access to a national governing body and industry led information. This is information that we can access through other means, such as direct relations with other local authorities and through our Strategic Contract with Amey. In terms of value to the customer and identifying what this membership meant to our customer, it was clear that this value was minimal.

4.48 As part of this review we explored our alternative options and it quickly became apparent that Solihull could successfully develop and deliver a local environmental campaign that could be at the heart of the local community and the £5000 currently used to fund the Keep Britain Tidy membership, could be invested into the delivery of a local campaign, therefore providing much more value to Solihull.

4.49 Following the review it was agreed that we would not be continuing with the annual Keep Britain Tidy Membership or their “Love Where You Live” campaign. However, Officers have developed a campaign unique to Solihull which will involve local people, tackling local issues and raising the profile of the importance of our local environment. The Councils “Lives not Services” objective will be very much at the heart of this campaign, concentrating on working with our communities to jointly improve our community environment.

4.50 The campaign which will be branded “Love Solihull, for cleaner, greener lives” and will aim to deliver the following vision and priorities:

(a) Vision:

Our vision is to make Solihull one of the cleanest and greenest in the country by:

Encouraging residents, businesses, partners and voluntary organisation’s to become

involved in the campaign by creating locally driven activities.

To make a noticeable improvement to the boroughs appearance.

To improve the use of the council’s resource’s through a joined up cross Council approach to service delivery.

We recognise that residents across the borough already do so much to look after the local environment, be it through community groups or individually. We want to engage and inspire more residents, schools, community groups and local businesses to take ownership of their surroundings and enhance the appearance and environment Solihull. It is only by working together with our partners that we can achieve these results and ensure that Solihull is a place we can all be proud of to live our lives.

(b) Priorities:

Improve Communication and raise awareness of Environmental Issues.

Increase Community Engagement, responsibility and accountability for maintaining the quality of everyone’s environment.

Increase local business and private organisation engagement and accountability for maintaining the quality of the environment.

Promote and deliver key environmental activities and campaigns.

Provide tangible results in terms of environmental improvements, through intervention, education and enforcement within Solihull.

Noticeably enhance the appearance of the borough to improve resident’s lives and Services.

4.51 Officers from Environmental Services will lead on delivering the campaign supported by a cross departmental project team from throughout the Places Directorate. Key to this project team will be support from Neighbourhood Services, ensuring that there is a strong connection with the local and wider community.

4.52 It is imperative that “Love Solihull” is a live campaign, with regular activities, events and communications so that the campaign remains at the forefront of our services and that the Councils “Lives not Services” priority is interwoven throughout all of the campaign outcomes. To ensure that this is achieved and that the campaign meets its vision and priorities, Officers have developed a detailed implementation and delivery action plan which will launch and deliver this campaign across Solihull, as well as include current campaigns and projects which fit within the ethos of “Love Solihull”. The project will commence on the 1st of April 2014. The following information outlines the key actions identified in the plan and that will be delivered through the campaign:

(a) April 2014 - Campaign launch event – media and press publicity.

(b) April 2014 – Litter count event to demonstrate the amount of litter picked up over a single day in Solihull.

(c) May 2014 – Raising the profile of Environmental Champions and promoting “Love Solihull” ambassadors.

(d) May 2014 – Business Charter launch, which will see key businesses in Solihull signing up to pledge to undertake litter cleansing around their businesses.

(e) May 2014 – School Charter Launch, which will see Schools signing up to pledge to undertake litter cleansing around their School Grounds.

(f) May 2014 – Eat Well & Waste Less promotion.

(g) May 2014 – Go Green Fair – promoting “Love Solihull”

(h) June 2014 – Anti Dog Fouling Campaign – Active promotion, education and enforcement to raise the profile.

(i) June 2014 – Environmental Day

(j) June 2014 – Love Parks week - Active promotion, education and enforcement and Friends of Park events.

(k) August 2014 – Anti Graffiti Campaign – Active promotion, education and enforcement to raise the profile. Includes “Blag a Tagger” event.

(l) August 2014 – Love Food Hate Waste week.

(m) August 2014 – Love Your Allotment week – Promotion and events at Allotment sites.

(n) September 2014 – Tree Planting campaign and events celebrating our Tree Wardens and raising the profile of our urban trees and woodlands.

(o) October 2014 – Autumn community activities and events – series of autumnal events delivered throughout our communities.

(p) October 2014 – Autumn School activities and events – series of autumnal School events linking with Eco Schools project.

(q) November 2014 – Environmental Crime awareness events and publicity campaign.

(r) November 2014 – Night time economy Environmental Crime enforcement and education event.

(s) December 2014 – Love Solihull Photography Competition – promoting the Solihull environment.

(t) January 2014 – Cigarette related litter event, Active promotion, education and enforcement to raise the profile.

(u) January 2014 - Chewing gum related litter event, Active promotion, education and enforcement to raise the profile.

(v) February 2014 – Park community clear up events.

(w) March 2014 – Love Solihull local awards, celebrating community ambassadors, schools and local businesses and the positive work achieved to improve the local and wider environment.

Enforcement

4.53 As outlined in the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Board in September 2012, enforcement continues to play a pivotal role when tackling environmental crime such as littering, dog fouling and fly tipping. Although we have continued to develop and operate an interdepartmental, joint working approach with colleagues within public protection, recent changes to the Places Directorate Structure have resulted in the Environmental Crime enforcement section being placed within Environmental Services, this change will enable a much more seamless approach to delivering our Strategic Environment Contract services in conjunction with Environmental Crime enforcement.

Area Based Working

4.54 It is vital that we continue to explore efficient and effective new ways of working and as referenced previously in this report ward based information is a powerful way of

understanding the different needs within each ward and the different ways in which our services need to operate. Operating our services on an area basis is an aspiration that will allow us to make a shift towards the provision of services based on the need and characteristics of each specific area.

4.55 We recognise that not all services can be operated in areas and there are efficiencies of scale that are far greater in value, when operating some services on a borough wide scale. An example of this would be some of our larger grass cutting services. However, there are some services such as street cleansing that would benefit from operating on an area basis, with the potential to provide significant benefits through dedicated teams who will develop an understanding of the communities within these areas, the service need and provide a level of ownership and accountability for the standard of service provided.

4.56 As a starting point in moving towards area working, we have embarked on a joint initiative between the council and Solihull Community Housing (SCH) to deliver area working through the Strategic Environmental Contract service currently provided in SCH areas.

4.57 Work has been undertaken to re-map SCH areas and re-define operations into an area based system. The outcome is the following proposed 5 area system:

Zone 1 – Kingshurst Zone 2 – Smiths Wood Zone 3 – Chelmsley Wood A Zone 4 – Chelmsley Wood B Zone 5 – Solihull South

4.58 Each area will have a dedicated team, which will be responsible for the operational delivery of all Streetcare operations within the assigned area. Each area team will have an appointed lead operative, who will be responsible and accountable for the area services.

4.59 Joint working and ownership are fundamental drivers to this proposed way of working and each area has been designed to mirror that of the SCH Area Caretakers, furthermore it is proposed that each area team will receive a training package to ensure that they can undertake a wide variety of services.

4.60 The SCH area based working project will commence on April the 1st 2014 and the first 6 months of this project will provide vital learning, which will prove invaluable when planning and rolling out further area based working within other services across the contract and across the wider council to Neighbourhood Services and Highway Services.

5. Reasons for Recommending Preferred Option

5.1 The report is presented as part of the on going development of the services covered by the Strategic Environment Contract.

6. Scrutiny

6.1 Scrutiny Board received a report on the 12th September 2012 with regards to a high level development plan for the Strategic Environment contract.

7. Implications

7.1 Policy/Strategy Implications The SEC contributes to the delivery of the targets in

the authority’s current waste and recycling strategy. In addition the, maintenance carried out through the Streetcare element of the contract contributes to the regeneration of North Solihull as part of the community regeneration programme.

7.2 Meeting the duty to involve Where relevant appropriate consultations will be undertaken to support the individual business cases developed to inform any future service changes.

7.3 Financial Implications Any future changes within the services covered by the SEC where there is an impact on expenditure levels will be subject to the development of individual business cases and relevant Member approvals.

7.4 Legal implications There are none as part of this report.

7.5 Risk Implications A specific risk register has been created and maintained as part of the management and governance of the contract. The register is continually updated and monitored through the Strategic Environment Contract Board.

7.6 Fair Treatment Assessment All of the services covered within the contract have undergone assessments and relevant action plans have been developed and delivered. As part of the on going management of the contract further assessments will be carried out as necessary should the services delivered change either operationally or through policy changes.

7.7 Carbon Management/Environmental A number of the future service developments under consideration will, if they are implemented, further improve the Council’s performance in this area.

7.8 Partner Organisations The SEC is jointly delivered with our partner Amey.

7.9 Safeguarding/Corporate Parenting Implications Amey has signed the Council’s Business Charter for Social Responsibility (BCfSR) and has achieved the maximum rating regarding safeguarding. They have an agreed action plan regarding Corporate Parenting.

8. List of Appendices Referred to

8.1 Appendix 1 – SEC Board Decision Making Process

8.2 Appendix 2 – National Recycling Carbon Savings table

9. Background Papers Used to Compile this Report

9.1 None

10. List of Other Relevant Documents

10.1 Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Report 12th September 2012