Wheelie Good News - East Riding bin collectors win national recognition

BIN COLLECTIONS in the East Riding have been voted the best in the country.

The council’s kerbside collections of the blue, brown and green bins have just been awarded Best Overall Performer in England: Refuse Collection by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE). APSE is a national benchmarking group that promotes excellence in public services among over 300 councils.

The winners received their awards at an Awards Ceremony in Blackpool from actress and Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati.

Councillor Stephen Parnaby, leader of the council, said: “Every week our collection teams empty up to a quarter of a million bins across an area of 1,000 square miles. Winning this award is national recognition for their efforts in delivering highly valued public services." 

Mark Bramah, assistant chief executive of APSE, said “The importance of local councils demonstrating that they are providing high quality and cost effective services is greater now than ever before.” 

The council was considered against several indicators, including cost, quality, the tonnes of domestic waste recycled per household, the percentage of household waste that is composted, and the number of missed collections. The collection teams also came top in the human resources criteria with 97 per cent of staff attaining NVQ Level 2 in Waste Management Operations. The average number of days lost due to sickness was also one of the lowest in the country. 

The council's collection teams are based at Carnaby, Bridlington; Goole, Market Weighton, Hedon and Willerby. 

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Council recognised in 'Best Service Team' awards

EAST RIDING council’s streetscene team has been given a customer service excellence award which recognises the team’s innovative ways of working (see the Association of Public Service Excellence website). The team were finalists in the Best Service Team: Building/Facilities Cleaning category.

Assessors were particularly impressed with the way staff work closely with communities to provide the services they want. Two schemes in particular were singled out as showing best practice. The first was a pilot in the Holderness area to improve service delivery by training staff to take on several roles in rural parishes. The second is a consultation with residents in an area of Bridlington about what they would like to see planted.

The pilot scheme in Holderness has seen staff who have traditionally taken on grounds maintenance roles trained to carry out a wider range of tasks including grass cutting, strimming and sweeping, minor pothole repairs, sign washing, litter-bin painting, and pruning hedges including those over-hanging signs and footways.

Small teams of around three were given specific villages in the pilot area to work in, which they visited every three weeks during the summer months. Communities representatives have been consulted on the work they would like to see done, and for their feedback on what has been achieved.

At the same Awards Event in September, Hull City Council were not only recognised as finalists in the Overall Council of the Year category, but the council-owned contractor Kingstown Works Ltd actually beat the competition to win the Best Information and Communication Technology Initiative.

Links: 

East Riding Council

Hull City Council

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