Issue - meetings

Members were presented with a recommendation from the Prosperous Communities Committee that street sweeping capacity be increased. It was explained that, following a Motion to Full Council in March 2024, work had been undertaken to ascertain how capacity could be increased, the outcome of which had been presented to the Prosperous Communities Committee at their meeting on 3 December 2024. The Committee had supported the Motion and recommended that option three, to employ an additional HGV Driver to work a four day on, four day off rota with current sweeper driver, be approved.

It was highlighted that whilst there were no financial implications in terms of increased costs associated with option three, in fact there was a small amount of savings, it was considered prudent for the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee to maintain the final approval level, in view of recent, and upcoming, budget discussions.

Members of the Committee echoed the thoughts of the Prosperous Communities Committee, recognising that it was an unexpected outcome that capacity could be increased whilst achieving a small saving. Some Members of the Committee noted that the sweeper had not been seen in their wards for some time, and they welcomed the fact that increased capacity would lead to a greater presence across the district. In particular, it was noted that Nettleham had been visited that week however Bardney had not been visited for some time.

In response to a question as to whether increased running time would lead to increased maintenance costs, it was explained that the costings had been undertaken based on the present rates of use, however the predominant change was to employ a second driver, rather than run the vehicle with one driver on overtime, meaning there was likely to be lower risk involved.

With Members of the Committee voicing their support, and having been proposed and seconded, the Chairman took the vote, and it was

RESOLVED that the implementation of option three within the report be approved, that being: to employ an additional HGV Driver to work a four day on, four day off rota with current sweeper driver.

The Committee heard from Operational Services Manager setting out information in response to a Motion presented to Full Council on 4 March 2024 regarding exploring the financial implications and feasibility of increasing road sweeping capability. The report detailed potential options, allowing the Committee to consider what may be possible, and determine whether a change to the Road Sweeping Policy should be applied. It was noted that options with financial implications would require a recommendation from the Prosperous Communities Committee to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee for approval of the appropriate funding.

It was explained that the current arrangements included one HGV road sweeper on a hire maintenance contract at the cost of £36,000 (plus £8.3k fuel) per annum. The road sweeper was required to be operated by a Class 2 HGV driver at the cost of £37,200 per annum. The road sweeper covered every village in the district at least once a year, while towns were visited more frequently. The sweeper was operated Monday to Friday, with Thursday as a day off, and was in Gainsborough town centre most Sundays as overtime. The HGV sweeper had a schedule of works but may also be required to attend to ad hoc requests or private work at any time, such as occasional building site sweeps. During the months of November and December the Council hired another HGV sweeper and driver to undertake seasonal sweeping for leaf fall at a cost of £14,500 for the 2 months.

Three options were included in the report, however it was explained that these were indicative of how the service may be changed, with Members invited to consider their own alternatives if wished. The first option was to carry on with the current arrangements, which, whilst not having any financial impact, would not increase road sweeping capacity. The second option was to hire another sweeper vehicle and driver. This would increase the capacity, remove the need to hire in a second vehicle in November and December, however there was an additional cost of £53,000 for 2025/26. The third option contained within the report was to employ an additional HGV driver to work on rotation with the existing driver on the one HGV road sweeper. This would increase capacity and also lead to a reduction in annual costs of £1600 for 2025/26 due to the reduction in overtime hours.

Councillor F. Brown, as the author of the original Motion, thanked the Operational Services Manager for the report. He noted that, following a run of storms, there had been a significant amount of cleaning up required and it was that which had prompted him to request a review of the Council’s approach to road sweeping. He sought additional information regarding the frequency of road sweeping in Nettleham, amongst other villages in his area. It was confirmed that whilst there was a rota for the road sweeper visiting named towns and villages, this was often impacted by ad hoc requests and demand in other areas of the district. It  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47