FOI Breaches of waste management contract by Veolia

Transcription

1 FOI Breaches of waste management contract by Veolia This request refers to repeated failure to manage street cleanliness and collect rubbish from a specific location (i.e. one or more addresses) anywhere in the borough. I understand Veolia has an eleven year contract with Tower Hamlets Council, which began in February 2006, to provide recycling and refuse collections, street cleansing and education and outreach work. The municipal waste management contract (street cleansing and refuse collections) commenced in The recycling collection contract, including education and outreach work, is a separate contract and commenced in Records Relating to the Waste Management Contract What does the Council's procurement specification and the contract for waste management specify with respect to: the performance standards to be met with respect to the removal of waste from street locations in the borough of Tower Hamlets Veolia work to a schedule for street cleansing and for the collection of waste and recycling from residential properties. All streets should meet a grade A standard after cleansing and all waste and recycling from residential properties should be collected on the scheduled day. In the event that Veolia fail to deliver the service as specified, a rectification notice is issued stating the service failure and the period of time within which the failure must be rectified. the frequency of response required of the contractor to reports of waste on the streets seven days a week The following table details the response times for reported missed collections and street cleansing incidents: Description Refuse and recycling collection service failure- missed collection Removal of small dump Removal of fly tip Rectification period Within 24 hours from notification Within 24 hours from notification Within 48 hours from notification the penalties for breaches of the contract of waste management in relation to failure to remove waste from the street / pavements The term "penalty" is not used. This contract contains a two stage Performance Monitoring procedure. The first stage allows the contractor a period of "rectification" following the issue of a Rectification Notice for a service failure.

2 If the failure is rectified within the rectification period then there is no further action but a record is kept on file. Where the Rectification Notice is not complied with or rectification is not possible then a Stage Two Default is issued. The Council can recover its costs in relation to the investigation and issue of a Default. The number of Defaults issued in a rolling period contributes to the "escalation process" within the Performance Monitoring procedure. Contract Performance Please identify from your records for the current contract for waste management with Veolia 1. the number of breaches of the waste management contract relating to failure to remove waste from the street within the required timescale at specific locations by Veolia since it started - by year. The table below details the number of Stage 2 default notices issued to Veolia as a result of failing to remove waste or recycling within the required rectification period. Please note, these are all default notices issued to Veolia and include those that were disputed and unjustified. Default notices can be deemed, after further investigation, unjustified when the contractor is not at fault, e.g. when waste is not presented on time, access was blocked on day of collection, etc. Detailed data is only available from 2011 onwards. Service Jan- Oct) Domestic Waste Garden and Food Recycling Street Cleansing How many of the reports of breaches of performance standards for refuse on full view on the streets (eg flytipping on pavements and streets, overflowing rubbish bins in public view etc) in the last two years were: Reported by the public and/or via Fix My Street Reported by the Council s Contract Monitoring of Veolia Please indicate whether this is inclusive or exclusive of examples independently reported by the public. The table below details the number of Stage 1 rectification notices issued to Veolia for the last two years (October to October). We are unable to break this down in to reports made by the public and reports made by Council officers.

3 Please note, these are all notices issued to Veolia and include those that were disputed and unjustified. Notices can be deemed, after further investigation, unjustified when the contractor is not at fault, e.g. when waste is not presented on time, access was blocked on day of collection, etc. Report type Small tips Large tips Overflowing litter bins the number of times penalties for breaches of the contract in relation to performance standards have been levied with respect to the current contract for waste management - since it started - per year of the contract to date. The table below details the number of Stage 2 default notices issued to Veolia as a result of failing to remove waste or recycling within the required rectification period. Please note, these are all default notices issued to Veolia and include those that were disputed and unjustified. Default notices can be deemed, after further investigation, unjustified when the contractor is not at fault, e.g. when waste is not presented on time, access was blocked on day of collection, etc. Detailed data is only available from 2011 onwards. Service Jan- Oct) Domestic Waste Garden and Food Recycling Street Cleansing Specific Locations Which Are Repeat Problem Areas Please identify the number of reports of a REPEATED failure to address problems at the SAME LOCATION i.e. repeat breaches of the waste management contract at specific locations by Veolia since it started - by year. The Council do not record this information. Please also identify: what records the Council keeps of specific locations/addresses in Tower Hamlets which are identified and recorded as "repeat offenders" in relation to the failure to remove waste and/or address a waste management problem with the addresses in question

4 how many addresses/specific locations in Tower Hamlets are classified as "repeat offenders" We do not classify addresses/specific locations as repeat offenders in relation to failure to remove waste. A Corporate Complaint may be raised if a complainant feels an address/location has experienced repeated service failures. The Council records details of all waste related Fixed Penalty Notices that are issued for waste related matters. Repeat offenders are not automatically identified. However, there is the capability to manually look for repeat offenders where required. At this time the Council does not automatically record or classify offenders as repeat offenders and there no separate records retained. the average length of time it takes for a specific location/address to be removed from a list of repeat offenders (i.e. for effective action to be taken which prevents a recurrence) In relation to failure to remove waste, Council officers can monitor, and request the contractor to monitor, locations for a period of time to ensure waste is being collected as scheduled, the street is being cleansed to the standard expected etc. It is normal for this monitoring to cover four weeks. At this time the Council does not automatically record or classify offenders as repeat offenders. Where enforcement action is required, a judgement will be made based upon the full circumstances of each individual incident to determine what level of action is required. the number and nature of Routine Reports the Council receives from its officers and/or Veolia as to specific locations which are "repeat offenders"(e.g. more than one complaint relating to refuse disposal on the street) This information is not held. what action is routinely recorded as being taken by Veolia and/or the Council to address the problem of repeat offences at the same address or specific location. All waste related FPNs are recorded on a central database in an issue date order. Where enforcement action is required, a judgement will be made based upon the full circumstances of each individual incident to determine what level of action is required. In some circumstances those who have offended repeatedly may not be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice, but may instead face a prosecution case via the Courts.

5 what performance measures are used by the Council to monitor specific properties with respect to "repeat offender" status Not applicable as no such status exists (see above).