The Scrutiny Streets & Environment Sub-Committee were scheduled to meet to discuss the waste and street cleansing contract, the Cleaner Croydon programme, and the council's financial performance. Also on the agenda was a review of the sub-committee's work programme, and a response from the cabinet regarding recommendations that the sub-committee had previously made.

Here's a breakdown of the topics that were scheduled to be discussed:

Cleaner Croydon Update

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Cleaner Croydon programme, in support of Outcome 4 of the Executive Mayor's Business Plan, which aims to make Croydon a cleaner, safer and healthier place .

The Cleaner Croydon update was expected to include information on:

• fly-tipping enforcement
• recent consultations
• prosecutions
• activities of the newly established Community Compliance Team
• the new Enforcement Strategy
• the success of the Blitz Clean programme and its impact on district centres
• engagement with businesses and residents during the Blitz Cleans

The report pack included presentations on the Blitz Clean programme¹ and the Streets and Environment Enforcement Policy Update².

The presentation on the Blitz Clean programme noted that eight town centre blitz cleans had taken place so far, and that Coulsdon was the most recent location. Thornton Heath Ponds, Crystal Palace and Selsdon were all listed as upcoming locations.

The presentation on the Streets and Environment Enforcement Policy Update included results from a public survey that ran from 1 July to 31 August, which received 449 responses. The top three biggest nuisances identified in the survey were:

• fly-tipping and other waste activities
• litter
• dog fouling

The first choices for enforcement approaches were:

• zero tolerance approach to offences
• maximum use of fines
• more use of CCTV cameras

The top three areas quoted for issues on private land were:

• Thornton Heath
• South Norwood
• Selhurst

Waste and Street Cleansing Contract Mobilisation Update

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the first quarter performance of the new waste collection and street cleansing contract with Veolia, which began on 31 March 2025.

The report pack included a presentation from Veolia, which noted that the company is responsible for:

• Collecting refuse, food waste, paper and card from 390,000 residents across 153,000 properties, amounting to around 1.9 million collections each month.
• Cleansing 2,500 kilometers of highways.
• Emptying over 1,000 litter bins a day.

The presentation stated that, every day, Veolia deploys:

• 54 collection crews
• 11 mechanical sweepers
• 46 barrow beats
• 15 mobile response crews

The report also noted that Croydon continues to experience a significant increase in fly-tipping, with an average of over 7,000 reported fly-tips per month for the first quarter of 2025-26. The wards with the highest level of reported fly tipping were:

• Bensham Manor
• Norbury and Pollards Hill
• West Thornton
• Broad Green
• Selhurst

Period 2 Financial Performance Report

The Sub-Committee was provided with the latest Financial Performance Monitoring report, to review the delivery of the 2025-26 Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery Budget.

The report noted that the General Fund revenue budget was forecast to underspend by £16.5m, which would reduce the necessary level of capitalisation directions from £136m to £119.5m. The report stated that all service directorates were being asked to reduce their net expenditure so that the annual budget can be balanced with reduced use of capitalisation directions.

The report also provided an update on the Stabilisation Plan, which sets out actions designed to further manage demand, reduce costs, increase income, and improve productivity.

Cabinet Response to Scrutiny Recommendations

The Sub-Committee was presented with an up to date list of responses from Cabinet to recommendations made by the Sub-Committee for review.

Appendix 1 contained the Scrutiny Stage 2 Response regarding the Healthy School Streets Schemes Update.

The Sub-Committee had previously recommended that the forthcoming Healthy School Streets Policy should consider the impact of any proposed schemes on neighbouring streets and areas. The Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment, Councillor Scott Roche, responded that this was already in progress, and that the Sustainable Travel to School Strategy would ensure that any new Healthy School Streets will consider the impact on the surrounding roads.

The Sub-Committee had also recommended that the council continue to monitor the impact of Healthy School Streets beyond the Experimental Order period and that this data be published on the council website. Councillor Lynne Hale responded that, owing to funding constraints, there were no current plans to continue to monitor the Healthy School Streets that have been made permanent. However, residents and Councillors are able to submit comments and concerns via a Healthy School Streets email address or through other means.

Scrutiny Work Programme 2025-2026

The Sub-Committee was asked to note the most recent version of its Work Programme, and to consider whether there were any other items that should be provisionally added to the work programme as a result of the discussions held during the meeting.