Issue - meetings

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 6 October 2025.

The deadline for questions to be submitted to the Monitoring Officer is Monday 6 October 2025.

Question from Councillor Anne-Marie Moriarty

Could councillors be granted access to the provisional schedule of works for regular cleansing and maintenance carried out by the environmental services team?

Having access to this information would significantly enhance our ability to fulfil our roles effectively. It would reduce the volume of correspondence between councillors and officers, streamline communication, and improve transparency for residents. When residents are informed about when and where work is scheduled, it helps manage expectations and addresses concerns about perceived inconsistencies in service delivery.

While I understand that such schedules are subject to change, having a working version available would still be invaluable. This request aligns with the principles of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, which supports councillors’ rights to access information necessary for their duties, and with guidance from the Local Government Association on the importance of timely and relevant information for elected members.

Response from the Portfolio Holder for Climate Response, Environment and Energy, Councillor Andy Hadley

Thank you for your question Councillor Moriarty, 

We have asked several times for this information to be made available. I have been advised that;

BCP Council’s approach to not publishing schedules is aligned to neighbouring authorities across the region.  In theory it provides residents with an in advance schedule from which to remove cars on a known date to aid cleansing, in practice from those that do so it often either a) results in very few residents moving their vehicles or b) residents move them and then are frustrated when a crew don’t appear – this can be for many reasons including

-       vehicle breakdowns - sadly frequent due to complexities of the kit

-       staffing shortages - LGV drivers are regularly pulled off to support shortages on waste collection crews, 

-       heavy leaf-fall etc which means they are unable to complete as many roads as may have been advertised, 

-       wider emergency or emerging issues 

-         e.g. for our area seasonal pressures with tourists which routinely pulls resources from residential areas due to resourcing limitations

The situation has unfortunately been changing for the worse because with more people working from home, residential streets have more cars parked on them blocking access to sweepers and gulley cleaners, but also, with our changing climate, the period of leaf-fall is now from September to March, whereas it used to be from November to January. 

Within BCP all our roads and pavement are being rescheduled for mechanical street cleansing to ensure parity of service across BCP, with historical resource greater in Poole than Bournemouth and Christchurch. I am told that Pre-LGR, Bournemouth went from 6 large sweepers down to only two covering the whole town. 

Resources are targeted at areas of greatest need and alignment with Environment Protection Act Code of Practice for Litter & Refuse whereby zoning is applied.? ?This is part of the roll out of in-cab technology within Waste & Cleansing and Environment more generally.? ?

Once the new schedules have been worked a number of times to be able  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51