Liverpool City Council has announced that it is considering retaking full control of the city’s street scene and waste collection services, after seven years.
Since 2016, the operation has been delivered by Liverpool Streetscene Services Ltd, owned by the council, however the council is now re-assessing the out-sourcing model due to new challenges that have arisen. These issues include the need to increase the rates of recycling rates in the city and the introduction of the new Neighbourhood model for Liverpool.
The council’s new Neighbourhood model will see benefits from greater integration of street scene and waste collection services with other council operations, with this helping to ensure that communities remain clean, green, and safe. Alongside this, an arrangement where the council run the services would also help with the strengthening of crime and anti-social behaviour enforcement.
A joint working group is being established between council manages and Liverpool Streetscene Services Ltd, in order to consider the proposal. One knock-on effect of the decision to insource the service would see all of the 600 LSSL staff transfer over to the employment of the council.
Councillor Liam Robinson, Leader of Liverpool City Council, said:
“The time is now right to consider the future arrangements for delivering our street scene and waste collection services.
“As we face a whole raft of new challenges, chief among them climate change, is the need to find new and innovative ways to improve recycling performance.
“Our over-arching concern is to provide the very best services for our residents and businesses and deliver best value.
“I am confident that insourcing the service would give the council more control over front line delivery and help achieve our promise to make our streets cleaner, tackle fly tipping and reduce litter.
“I look forward to seeing how these proposals will be developed by the joint working group to help us achieve that.”
Cabinet Member for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Streetscene, Cllr Laura Robertson-Collins, added:
“Transferring these core services into the Council would provide new opportunities for improvement, innovation, and efficiency, bringing direct benefits to our residents and businesses.
“If agreed, the proposal would also help deliver improvements in our frontline services in neighbourhoods, according to the needs of each community. Such a flexible approach would also ensure a more proactive way of working and help us improve the overall cleanliness of the city.”
Should the services be taken over by the council again, households would not see any changes to their waste collection services, with detailed proposals being considered by the Council Cabinet at the beginning of 2024.
Image credit: iStock
