Flintshire bin collection delays due to “technical issues” as fleet provider faces administration

Flintshire Council has moved to address concerns over disruption to bin collections.

Earlier this week, the local authority announced it was experiencing “technical issues” with some waste collections in Flintshire.

In a post on Facebook, the council said it meant residents due to have their brown garden waste bins picked up this week could face delays.

It led to speculation on social media that the problems could be linked to news that the authority’s fleet service provider has entered administration.

Go Plant Fleet Services, which provides vehicles such as bin lorries and housing repair vans to the council, went into administration in early May.

Officials warned at the time that disruption to services could be “inevitable” as a result.

The authority has now revealed that it is bringing fleet services back in-house to minimise any issues.

Katie Wilby, chief officer for streetscene and transportation, said in a statement: “Following the news that Go Plant Fleet Services had entered into administration, Flintshire County Council has reached agreement to transfer the necessary fleet vehicles and will now manage the service in-house.

“Our focus is to ensure a smooth transition, enabling our fleet operation, management and maintenance to continue to be delivered efficiently and effectively into the future.

“On rare occasions, we do experience operational issues just like any other local authority, which can be down to various reasons.

“However, we always do our best to keep this to a minimum and the crews are required to report any collection issues on the waste and recycling rounds so that they can be addressed on the scheduled collection day.”

She added: “Missed collections can be attributed to a range of operational issues such as sickness absence, road closures, traffic congestion or obstructions preventing access to properties, bad weather, customer error and incorrect items being presented, vehicle breakdowns or staff performance.

“Nevertheless, the collection crews take pride in their work, and it is the intention of every crew member to ensure that all collections are completed by the end of each day.”

The council outsourced the supply and maintenance of its fleet of 400-plus vehicles to the company in 2016 to try and save money.

The initial seven-year contract with the firm, previously known as Essential Fleet Services, ended last year and was initially allowed to expire without a new deal being struck.

However, a temporary extension of six months was granted in late October after concerns were raised that failing to reach an agreement would lead to vehicles being taken away and bin collections coming to a halt.

Officials said more time was needed to hold discussions over a new long-term arrangement due to uncertainty around inflationary cost pressures.

Issues surrounding the fleet contract have been cited by a group of five former Labour councillors as one of the reasons why they left the party last week.

Cllr Alasdair Ibbotson, a member of the newly-formed Flintshire People’s Voice group, accused cabinet members of keeping residents in the dark and providing inaccurate information on the contract.

He said: “Council rules prevent disclosure of discussions relating to contracts from being made public, so frustratingly, residents of Flintshire are prevented from knowing the exact details.

“These contracts involve millions of pounds of public funds. It’s the bare minimum to expect cabinet members to know what’s in them, and to be able to give truthful and accurate responses to basic questions.”

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter