Agenda item

To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place. The report is not attached to this agenda and will be circulated “to follow”.

(Report No.252) To follow

Councillor Guney Dogan (Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability) introduced the report of the Director of Environment and Operational Services (No.252) proposing the in-sourcing of the road gulley cleaning service.

NOTED

1.            That the report recommended in-sourcing the road gully cleaning services on, or as soon as possible after, 1 July 2020 as set out in the report. This function would be managed within Public Realm Services, specifically, under the Council’s Street Cleansing Service, based at Morson Road depot.

2.            That the current contractor’s performance provided cleaning of circa 15,000 gullies per year. With the introduction of modern technology and data intelligence now used in this industry, the Council’s highways engineers had estimated that by managing the service in-house, the performance of this service could be significantly improved with up to 20,000 gullies cleaned per year. This represented a 30% improvement in service. There would also be further opportunities for the service to operate more commercially, generating additional income through servicing and cleaning gullies on housing land, educational premises, private developments and privately managed industrial estates, as detailed in the report.

3.            The cost of providing the service in-house had been estimated to be £160,000. The current annual budget allocation with the highways service for the cleansing of highway gullies is £149,500. Highway Services will accommodate the additional £10,500 from wider existing budgets through income associated with highway licences and street works permits and traffic orders.  

4.            Members supported the proposal to bring the service in-house and were pleased to note the anticipated improvement in both service provision and flexibility as set out in the report.

5.            Members reiterated their commitment to insourcing Council services as much as possible and were pleased to be able to make progress on this during this challenging time. The proposals would result in improved service provision to the benefit of Enfield residents.

6.            The Council would continue to explore further possibilities for in-house provision across the range of highway services providing the Council with increased levels of control over service provision and performance.

Alternative Options Considered: NOTED, that delaying the opportunity to in-source the gully cleaning service until the end of the Ringway Jacabs contract would be a missed opportunity to achieve an improved service as soon as possible. Gully cleaning could be tendered as a specific activity or as part of a wider highway maintenance contract, however this would deprive the Council of the benefits of direct service provision.

DECISION: The Cabinet agreed to

1.            Approve the in-sourcing of the road gully cleaning service and deliver the service from within Public Realm Services based at Morson Road with effect from 1 July 2020, or as soon as practicable after this date.

2.            Develop the business as set out in the report, to be the provider for gully and drainage services to Housing Services.

Reason: NOTED, the following reasons for the recommendations, as set out in full in section 5 of the report:

1.            In-sourcing the gully cleaning service would enable the Council to have greater control and flexibility of this activity by directly setting and monitoring cleaning programmes and priorities.

2.            This activity could easily be accommodated under existing management arrangements within the Environmental Services’ Public Realm services teams based as Morson Road depot.

3.            The in-sourcing of the gully cleaning activity in advance of the end of the current contract would provide an opportunity for a “test run” for a potential larger service transfer at the end of the contract on 1 April 2021.

(Key decision – reference number 5118)