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Following
the approval of an amendment moved by the Labour Group in relation
to the original motion submitted, the following motion (as amended)
was AGREED as the outcome of the non-cabinet member
debate:
 
“Making our Borough Clean and Safe
 
This
Council notes:
 
A major issue of upmost
importance to Brent Council is the general condition of our area.
Residents are increasingly frustrated that a small minority of
individuals disregard their streets and use them for rubbish and
illegal fly tipping. As ward councillors we are receiving daily
updates from local people about dumping in the Borough, and we work
tirelessly with Council Officers to resolve these enquiries and
prevent the problem from getting worse.
 
This includes large fly tips in
hotspot locations that have been identified by the Council for a
considerable time, but with limited resources it is an ongoing
battle for our environmental enforcement teams to tackle.
Nonetheless we do ensure that proactive action is taken to prevent
further ongoing dumping at these sites.
 
In some areas of the borough
‘paan spitting’ continues to be a major problem local
people are forced to contend with. The Councils campaigns to reduce
unsightly, unhygienic mess caused by this bad habit will encourage
behaviour change.
 
Rubbish on our streets
contributes to how people view the area and can have a knock-on
effect in terms of further Anti-Social Behaviour in the
community.
 
A key priority of this local
authority must be to address to scourge of fly tipping and crack
down forcefully on those who continue to disrespect our
community.
 
The new Waste Service Contract
with Veolia is in place, and it is crucial that the company are
held to account in delivering the set-out terms of their contract,
particularly around targets on street cleansing.
 
The roll out of the new blue
bags recycling service has already led to a 50% increase in the
tonnage of paper and cardboard collected in the first month. While
the scheme requires residents to adjust to the new regime more blue
bin bags are already being collected without contamination, with a
record low of 1% contamination. There is a risk of local people
losing confidence in the Climate Emergency Strategy should we
choose to do nothing to improve the revised recycling system and
increase levels of recycling.
 
It is likely that the new
system will result in the Council’s stated aim of increasing
the boroughs overall recycling rate.
 
Prioritising making our borough
clean will have a positive effect on the way people feel about
where they live and how others who visit Brent view our
area.
 
Therefore, this Council believes:
 

1.         
Keeping local streets clean and free of rubbish must
be a continued focus, particularly in light of increased dumping
locally.

 

2.         
The best way to discourage illegal behaviour is by a
programme of mass fining and continuing a zero-tolerance approach
to rubbish on our streets and in our open spaces and paan
spitting.

 

3.         
The Brent Connects areas ensure Enforcement Teams
are not overly stretched so that a targeted approach is deployed in
hotspot fly tipping locations – such as deployment of
additional resources in Wembley and Alperton.

 

4.         
It is possible to change behaviours and educate
people about how to treat our streets and opens spaces, through
well run, targeted and engaging education campaigns.

 

5.         
Volunteers who spend hours every week trying to keep
our borough clean and tidy must be commended for the work that they
do and assisted wherever possible by the Council.
 
The blue bag scheme
will be reviewed in 2024 with improvements to be considered by
Cabinet and the recommendations by Scrutiny looked at
again.
 
This
Council therefore resolves to call on the Cabinet Member for
Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Action:
 

1.         
To make a non commercially sensitive version of the
new Waste Service Contract with Veolia publicly available to enable
effective scrutiny of the company and so that we can be confident
that they are meeting the set-out terms of their contract with
Brent.

 

2.         
To continue to work with partners across the Council
and with outside agencies to identify additional resource to assist
the existing Waste Enforcement teams across the borough in
delivering effective enforcement against those who continue to
disrespect our area.

 

3.         
Where additional resource is needed to scope the
possibility of employing apprentices to work alongside
Neighbourhood Managers and Enforcement Teams in fly tipping hotspot
locations in the borough.

 

4.         
Subject to further engagement work, to work with the
Cabinet Member for Customers, Communities & Culture, to
undertake an internal review of the Brent Connects areas,
particularly the Wembley Connects area, to see whether splitting
them into smaller geographical areas can help with more effective,
targeted waste enforcement work.

 

5.         
To continue the education campaign including door to
door communications about the Council’s renewed focus on
dealing with rubbish dumping and fly tipping in the area, this will
include details of fines individuals would face if caught not
adhering to the law.

 

6.     To
ensure that until the New Year all blue bins are emptied according
to criteria and scheduled times published in residents’
calendars.  The Council will instruct
the contractor to ensure that blue bags are not thrown about and
that all bins are returned to the correct location. Above all the
Cabinet will consider the feedback from residents and the emerging
data from the roll out to consider all options that will support
residents with recycling more cardboard and paper utilising the
Capital budget of £1.6 million which has been allocated for
this.

 

7.     To
lobby the government regarding the possibility of introducing a
long awaited deposit scheme for cans and bottles, which would
discourage dumping in our area.

 

8.     To
work with other London local authorities to gain insight on best
practice around dealing with ongoing rubbish and fly tipping issues
that are sadly prevalent in some areas in the capital.
 

9.     To
continue our ongoing work with the Mayor of London to ensure areas
in our borough under his jurisdiction are kept clean and safe,
including TfL land.
 

10.   To write to
Government urging that they consider banning the sale of paan, or
at the very least require businesses who sell it to have a
License.

 

11.   To write to
Government about the ongoing fly tipping problems in Brent and
request additional funding to support renewed efforts to get to
grips with this issue.”

 

Eligible for Call-In: No