Serco's bin contract should be reviewed, cllr says

Cllr Paul Harvey said that "Serco isn't working" as statistics reveal that the number of people satisfied with their waste collections reached its lowest level since the firm took over the lucrative £88 million contract.

Just 74 per cent of people in Basingstoke and Deane were satisfied with their black-bin waste collection in June 2020 - down from 86.7 per cent in February and a peak of 91 per cent in June 2019.

The results come after black bin collections were decreased to fortnightly during the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was taken after an increase in the number of staff off work, and after other collections such as garden and bulky waste, were suspended.

Cllr Hayley Eachus, who is responsible for waste collections, said that the rates had "fluctuated" but have "remained high since the start of the contract".

But Cllr Harvey hit out at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, saying: "If you can't get the bins right, people have the right to say what am I paying my council tax for?

"The system needs to be right and it isn't. Serco isn't working.

Cllr Paul Harvey has called on the borough council to review Serco's contract.

"It was badly negotiated from the start. The borough council had to put its own hands in the pocket to pay for their bin lorries."

He called for the borough council to review the eight-year contract.

"People have pushed for a review and that has never been something the borough council are interested in. They should be, as an administration, as worried as we are and residents are. It can't be left."

Meanwhile, satisfaction in recycling collections, which remained at a fortnightly frequency throughout the pandemic, reached an all-time high and glass collection was just below its peak.

88.5 per cent of people were satisfied with their recycling collections in the borough in June 2020 - compared to 77.5 per cent in February - whilst 89.2 per cent approved of their glass recycling collections.

This was up from 81.4 per cent in February, and on a par with the November 2019 peak of 89.5 per cent.

Cabinet member for the environment and enforcement, Cllr Hayley Eachus, said: “When Serco took over the waste contract in October 2018 they introduced a quarterly resident satisfaction survey to provide a snapshot of the satisfaction levels for our waste and recycling services. This survey is carried out by an independent company employed by Serco and gains the views of 250 resident each time, ensuring a cross section of the borough’s residents are reached.

"The Serco customer satisfaction survey is designed to provide Serco and the council with more regular updates on customer satisfaction with waste and recycling services and is considered alongside other customer feedback to continually improve the services provided to residents.

"These figures tell us that the overall rate of the satisfaction with the waste and recycling service has remained high since the start of the contract at 84.7 per cent but figures for individual services have fluctuated where there have been important changes.

"One of those has been during the pandemic where services were temporarily reduced or removed for a period of time to protect crews and provide a reliable waste collection service.

"Satisfaction levels for waste services dropped slightly while recycling satisfaction levels increased during this period. The results of the next survey are due shortly and the outcome will again be used to help improve the waste and recycling services delivered to our residents.”