Tabled Question in the Name of Cllr A Barr

"Given the recent issue with Bryson Recycling regarding missed recycling collections, what actions can be taken by MEABC to ensure that Bryson Recycling rectify this situation."

“Council Officers have had discussions and meetings with Bryson since October to address the number of missed rounds and collections.

The main reasons cited for the disruption were a combination of sickness and driver shortages.

Bryson advised that the nationwide shortage of drivers, coupled with unprecedented sickness levels, has significantly impacted their ability to maintain normal service levels.

In addition, the snow over the last week has compounded our problems with residents and Councillors becoming ever more frustrated as times goes on with patience starting to wear out. 

It is also taking a lot of council staff  time to keep on top of the disruption and ensure collections are being made as well as deal with the numerous complaints.

A performance Management System is included under the terms & conditions of the Bryson contract.

The service standards included in this system are designed to ensure that a quality service is provided by the contractor. 

Deductions are applied for each service standard failure, including missed collections that have not been collected within 24 hours. 

In accordance with these contract terms & conditions fines, have been imposed on Bryson since October for these missed collections.

In addition, under the terms & conditions of the contract Council require a Recovery Plan from Bryson to ensure that our collections return to normal service as soon as possible which they have provided below:

Bryson recovery plan includes:

Additional collection crews are operating every night and at weekends to complete as many collections as possible on the scheduled day, or within 24 hours, to ensure that each household has a weekly collection.

Any staff with the relevant licence have been redeployed from other duties to driving collection rounds. 

A comprehensive review of recruitment and retention practices has been undertaken, including:

Recruitment methods

Job descriptions and advertising

Rates of pay

Training and mentorship

Staff culture

A new job advertisement issued in early December already resulted in a significant increase in applications.

We have had several new drivers commence employment already. 

They spend 1-2 weeks training before commencing household collections.

In the next 2 weeks we have a further 9 new drivers starting employment.

We are continuing to recruit additional drivers, and already have multiple applicants signed up to start employment throughout the rest of January, with the aim to fill all driver vacancies, ensuring that we have sufficient spare resources to cover leave and sickness. 

We have also 12 candidates enrolled in our Driver Academy programme to attain C Class 2 licences.

This is an ongoing programme, so we are continuously signing up new candidates.

Sickness absence has been unprecedented, with the majority being flu. 

We are hopeful that this will improve and that our growing pool of drivers will provide sufficient cover for absences that do occur. 

Additional monitoring resources are being deployed across the Council area to check:

• box returns
• Litter
• Assisted lifts
• Watchlist properties

All crews have been retrained on box returns, litter management, customer service and overall service standards.

This training includes clear information on disciplinary action should standards not be met.

With the implementation of the Recovery Plan, council officers expect to see significant improvements in the contract over the next few months.

Officers will continue to work collaboratively with Bryson to monitor the situation going forward.”