Minutes:
Further to the minutes of the Council seminar, which had been held on Tuesday, 6th January, 2015, the Select Commission undertook further discussion about the Council’s response to the severe winter weather conditions (snow, very low temperatures and ice) during the ten days’ period beginning on Boxing Day, Friday 26th December, 2014.
The Chairman welcomed David Burton (Director of Streetpride) and Councillor Mahroof Hussain, Cabinet Member for Environment, to give an update about the Council’s response.
In moving forward, a number of different worksteams had been identified, each with different aspects and individual responses to the recent snow.
The Cabinet Member had asked appropriate officers to look at the individual worksteams and review which areas in the future should be identified as specific issues.
A ‘lessons-learned’ approach had identified to look further at operational responses and communications and to make any changes should the events of the festive period occur again.
Procedure dictated that the weather forecast would be checked over a five days’ period, to look at the probability of bad weather and the need for precautionary gritting. On this occasion, from the five days’ weather forecast, there had been no prediction of snow.
The managed response over the festive period involving skeleton staff working as it should have done, the problem being the snow that arrived had caused more problems than expected.
Rotherham’s gritters were out working around the clock to keep the network clear and no strategic routes were lost. Sheffield City Council had closed the Parkway for a period of time and the Highways Agency was forced to close parts of the M1 motorway.
In terms of waste collection, this proved to be more a logistical challenge to recover, as there was a 25% increase in waste to collect during the festive period than the normal amounts collected at other times of the year. In consultation with the Leader and Cabinet Member information was released about when deliveries would be caught up.
Waste was seen by the vast majority of people as being the most important service provided by the Council and the level of disruption was under-estimated. The Council’s contact centre had ten times the number of calls it normally experienced and with hindsight it would have been beneficial to include in the Frequently Asked Questions Section about the recovery plan when routine waste schedules were disrupted. An improvement team was looking at how the process could be improved to ensure a quicker response in the future.
The Council’s website emergency banner about waste collections may not have had the desired affect for informing the general public and a speedier update to get the messages across was required.
The social media feeds for the Council, normally handled by the Communications Team, were inundated with messages, and these had then to be directed to the Operational Manager. Managing public expectations was an area operational management were dealing with, to prevent confusing messages being relayed in the future.
Messages and Elected Member briefings were normally channelled through the Communications Team. The importance of ensuring Elected Members had the latest information was stressed, as they could be the main conduit between the Council and the general public. A clearer understanding of getting those messages out quicker was warranted.
Items for further consideration included:-
· If a similar severe weather event occurred, a daily meeting between operations staff should take place.
· Scripts for the contact centre and media messages needed to be agreed with the Communications Team.
· The frequency of updates needed to be slicker.
· An officer taking overview of the messages received for co-ordination.
· Consider alternative models of informing the public on websites, such as the one used by Derbyshire County Council with key links to relevant documentation.
· An agreed process for informing Elected Members.
· Internet communications need to be improved.
· Liaison with regarding the use of social media.
· The Frequently Asked Questions Section on the website required updating.
· Development of the Snow Warden Scheme and the policy on salt bins.
A briefing note based on the information above would be prepared and circulated to all Members.
During discussion, Members of the Select Commission raised the following issues:-
(a) there are parts of mainland Europe which have much more severe weather and heavier snowfall than the United Kingdom. Are there lessons to be learned from the severe weather response undertaken in other European countries.
This country does not have such severe weather with the frequency with which it occurs in Europe. Therefore, local authorities undertake much less investment in the required vehicles, equipment and materials, which may only lie idle if the weather is not so severe. In addition, the wetter snow often found in the United Kingdom is more difficult to plough and to clear and causes more problems at freezing temperatures.
(b) Officers were thanked for their explanations about the severe weather response at Area Assembly meetings. There were public expectations to meet in terms of the provision of salt/grit bins and also the publication of up-to-date information about changes in refuse bin collection days.
(c) The Winter gritting routes should be reviewed alongside the bus routes. Although many bus routes are gritted as a priority, some routes may have been missed by gritting vehicles because of recent changes to bus routes (one example being Christchurch Road, West Melton, another in the Whiston area). Members asked that this issue be investigated immediately.
(d) The collection of recycled waste (blue bags and blue boxes) had suffered as a consequence of the Winter weather, although collections had recommenced, as scheduled, as the weather had improved during the first week of January 2015.
(e) Members asked that this Authority’s unit cost per dustbin, for refuse collection, be reviewed and compared with the costs of other similar local authorities.
(f) Although communications ought to be improved, both in terms of refuse collection and for the operation of bus services, the Select Commission acknowledged the efforts of the Streetpride workforce to ensure that the principal highway network in the Borough area had remained passable by vehicles, during the severe weather. There had been no serious accident nor injuries reported.
(g) Reference was made to the driver of the gritting vehicles and refuse collection vehicles having ultimate responsibility for the safety of the vehicle. Many side roads and estate roads had been impassable during the worst of the weather period in late December 2014.
(h) There was a suggestion that the use of the volunteer snow warden scheme, involving local residents, ought to be increased.
(i) Members considered that it is preferable to adhere to the scheduled days for refuse collection, for ease of understanding by the general public. It was noted that some refuse collection vehicles had been transferred to assist with the backlog of collection in other parts of the Borough area, resulting in a shorter amount of time spent on the collection of waste. The high winds during early January 2015 had caused litter and refuse to spread along residential roads.
(j) There had been very good assistance provided for aged persons’ centres, to help elderly people cope with the severe Winter weather.
(k) There had been no noticeable impact upon schools, because the worst of the weather had occurred during the school holiday period and the weather had improved by the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2015.
(l) There should be further consideration of the disruption to bus services (eg: Manor Farm estate, Rawmarsh), both via this Council’s Transport Liaison Group and also the Rotherham Bus Partnership, so as to improve communications with the travelling public.
Resolved:- (1) That the explanation of this Council’s response to the severe Winter weather, experienced during late December 2014, be noted.
(2) That a scrutiny review of the Council’s Winter weather response be undertaken by a review group comprising Councillors Atkin, Gosling, Sims and Read and the review shall consider the development of Elected Members’ protocols about unexpected weather events, so as to assist in the dissemination of information to the general public.
(3) That a further report about the Council’s Winter weather response, including communications with the general public, be submitted to a future meeting of the Improving Places Select Commission.