Ealing's Rubbish - One Year On

---

Row over figures as new firm takes over

An Ealing Councillor says figures he has obtained show that the borough's streets are dirtier than ever.

Councillor Phil Taylor - opposition spokesman on Environment and Transport - has been watching the performance of Enterprise since they took over the borough's waste contract last April.

The company was beset with collection problems from day one and the council received thousands of complaints from residents.

Now, a year on, Councillor Taylor claims things aren't much better. He says in the first year of Enterprise's contract around a third of streets in the borough - on average - were unacceptably dirty immediately after they were cleaned - compared to 12% under the old contract.

He says: ''We can now take a view of the entire first year of this contract.  The figures show that almost a third of streets (30%) were unacceptably dirty immediately after they were cleaned.  This figure is not just the worst bit of the year.  This is the average for the entire first year of the contract.  If people feel the place is dirtier that is because it objectively is.”

Street Cleansing 2012-2013
	Grade A pre Rectification %	Grade A post rectification %	Percentage Monitored %
Apr-12	66.7	66.7	18.3
May-12	53.5	53.5	28.7
Jun-12	59.3	59.3	15.8
Jul-12	64.8	75.0	21.7
Aug-12	69.8	87.1	11.9
Sep-12	76.9	87.1	26.7
Oct-12	70.3	83.8	31.5
Nov-12	66.1	80.5	23.2
Dec-12	73.1	96.4	14.8
Jan-13	79.6	98.9	18.0
Feb-13	78.9	98.7	24.4
Mar-13	76.5	98.4	18.8

But Councillor Bassam Mahfouz Cabinet spokesman on Environment and Transport disagrees and says things are improving:

''The figures for the past 3 months show that streets are the cleanest they’ve been in recent years with an average of just under 99% of streets meeting our tough grade A standard for cleanliness.

“Although we recognise that there have been problems in the past there is now steady improvement which we’re monitoring very closely. Keeping our streets clean is one of our top priorities and we have rightly set high standards which we expect our contractor, Enterprise to meet.”

Enterprise PLC has this month been bought by major public services provider Amey.

An Amey spokeswoman told us it would be business as usual and they expect a straightforward move between companies.

The Amey news release announcing the aquisition reads: ''We will now begin a dedicated process of integrating Enterprise into Amey, while remaining focused on delivering a smooth transition for customers; ensuring service continuity and maintaining operational excellence throughout.

''The acquisition will allow Amey to respond to the demands of the industry, offering long-term value to customers through enhanced capabilities, a broader provision of services and implementation of best practice.''

An Ealing Council spokesperson said: '' The council’s priority is to ensure on-going improvements to local services including refuse and recycling collection and street cleaning that are delivered under our contract with Enterprise.

''Council leader Julian Bell, Councillor Bassam Mahfouz and senior officers met with the chief executive and managing director of Amey this week to tell them what we expect.''

.

 

 

What do you think? Has the waste collection now improved? Do you think streets are dirtier? Discuss on the forum.

 

April 24th 2013