Recycling centre Covid restrictions
Case reference FOI2022/00035
Published 26 January 2022
Request
Under the banner of "Covid" household recycling centres across the county all require residents to pre book. 1. Please can you provide the evidence to show household recycling centres are a greater risk of transmission in comparison to other services such as retail where no pre booking is required. 2. Please can you outline the full costs to the council to have this ongoing bureaucracy: • Have Severn Waste Services charged the council for the development of this booking system? • Are Severn Waste Services charging the council for the ongoing maintenance of this booking system? • If there hasn't been a direct cost for this system, what increase in costs have the council had to pay Severn Waste Services to procure their wider services? 3. What review is in place to assess the ongoing need for this bureaucracy?
Response
Please can you provide the evidence to show household recycling centres are a greater risk of transmission in comparison to other services such as retail where no pre booking is required.
When the booking system was first introduced it allowed the HRCs to continue to operate, providing a level of safety to both the public and the staff working at the site whilst Government restrictions were in place. Although those restrictions have now lifted the booking system has been retained for the following reasons:
It reduced traffic congestion at sites as queuing has been almost eliminated and this has been very positively received by the vast majority of residents, who can now arrive at the site at a designated time knowing that they will not have to wait in a queue.
The booking system only allows Herefordshire residents to use the sites so that priority is now given to those who pay directly for this service. The use of the sites from people outside of the authority and those depositing waste not permitted on the sites was previously unquantifiable and could not be controlled therefore the booking system has had the added advantage of reducing these, providing better value for the residents of Herefordshire.
Please can you outline the full costs to the council to have this ongoing bureaucracy:
Have Severn Waste Services charged the council for the development of this booking system?
No
Are Severn Waste Services charging the council for the ongoing maintenance of this booking system?
No
If there hasn't been a direct cost for this system, what increase in costs have the council had to pay Severn Waste Services to procure their wider services?
The council paid for some additional staff when the sites initially re-opened with the booking system to ensure capacity for managing the site entrance and safety whilst on site but these reduced back to normal levels in March 2021 and no further additional payments have been made.
What review is in place to assess the ongoing need for this bureaucracy?
The council have decided to maintain the booking system due to the additional benefits it has provided. We increased the number of slots available at each site in July 2021 in line with the lifting of Government restrictions and will continue to review the service as part of our ongoing service operations.
Documents
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