Forum Topic

Ealing council knew, but didn't tell anyone

The following question submitted under the written questions procedure by my colleague Cllr Justin Anderson reveals that Ealing council knew as far back as November 2011 that the new contractor would not be ready and would have to mix our recycling after we separated it, and they didn't tell anyoneQUESTION NO. 11 COUNCIL MEETING – 8th May 2012 QUESTION BY COUNCILLOR – Justin AndersonUNDER COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE PROCEDURE RULE 10(1) TO - CABINET MEMBER FOR – Transport and Environment____________________________________________________________QUESTION What date was the Council first aware of the need to use temporary vehicles for the beginning of the new service?  Can the Portfolio Holder confirm the number of temporary vehicles used on the first week of the new contract compared to the number used in the last week under the previous contract?____________________________________________________________________________ANSWER The Council was aware of the need to use 13 temporary recycling vehicles in November 2011. A percentage of temporary/hire vehicles is standard in steady state. The number used in the last week of the old contract is not available and the Council would not normally have this information unless specifically required.  These temporary vehicles do not refer to those that were later introduced to catch up with the recycling collection.

Colm Costello ● 5076d7 Comments

There are two pages dedicated on recycling on the June edition of Around Ealing. Here you can read all about how wonderfully well Ealing is doing on this and how many record breaking figures have been achieved. Nice spin thought, especially when figures released following the Special council meeting on the Rubbish fiasco reveal a completely different story.What I find fascinating (or sickening) is the recycling target that this council has set himself and has now for the first time since coming to power has finally announced.Just to put things in prospective let me remind you that the previous administration in  four years managed to achieve a recylcing rate from 19% in 2006 to 40%  in 2010.In 2012 this stands at 41% and the prospective target figure that this administration aims to achieve in 2020 is of a recycling rate of 50%. This means that since they took control in 2010 to 2020 (10 years) they are only aiming for an increase of 10%.I shall let you be the judge on how recycling is taken seriously by the current administration, especially as it is one of their priority.

Rosa Popham ● 5053d

Doesn't the leader of the council ever read anything on this forum. It would be nice if they provided some info on when this will be resolved on here or is talking to council taxpayers beneath them.

Mark Stevens ● 5054d

when will this problem be resolved. It really is hard to motivate myself to keep separating what i recycle then watch the workers undo all my good work. The side of the lorry says it is all being recycled, but i have my doubts

Mark Stevens ● 5055d

Maybe I can answer my own question here.Enterprise's website tells us that they have access to lots of vehicles.I guess the question wasn't phrased quite tightly enough to elicit the response required.

Philippa Bond ● 5063d

There does seem to be some press on that.Interestingly there was also a problem with this similar at a glance contract:http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/councils/problems-hit-biffa-2018dream-contract2019Keeping residents informed - who after all pay for these collections in the Council Tax - doesn't really seem to feature does it? When will information about how our recycling should be presented for collection be issued to those who consistently do their own thing probably simply because they just need to be told/reminded what they should be doing?A new contract is the ideal time especially once the collections are up and running as we have been told they should be (and a kerbsider did collect from my street today).  The other one managed to miss my food waste though - so it will have to have another sheet of newspaper and wait till next week.  Thank goodness it is a weekly collection.Whenever there is a doorstepping campaign (a bit difficult since so many residents are out at work all day) the rates go up.  I think this is partly to do with people getting the chance to ask questions and order recycling bags/boxes that they have not inherited or which have not been returned.  It would have been sensible to run a campaign saying that there were changes coming and to make it easy for people to make sure they were up to date with what could be recycled and had the right boxes etc but if the Council already knew it was going to be a mess I guess they just stuck their heads in the sand.  A more proactive approach might have won more plaudits in the long run.

Philippa Bond ● 5065d

Any truth in the conjecture that 3i are allegedly looking to offload Enterprise and that Ferrovial the Spanish FM company are interested?

Nigel Brooks ● 5066d

I suppose they hoped that we wouldn't notice.It is a shame that they seem to have failed to appreciate that the success of the system is determined by the participation of the residents. We should have been moving forward with this new contract from the beginning.  Instead there will now be a lot of ground to make up.  Neighbours have stopped separating anything at all as all they can be sure of getting rid of is the black sack.Why don't they know how many vehicles were being used?  How much liaison is there - or isn't there any - when there should be?

Philippa Bond ● 5066d