Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      The figures presented in this report cover the first quarter of the financial year i.e. the period from April 2010 to June 2010.  Monitoring figures were measured by Cleansing Services Quality Officers.  Enforcement, and Education and Awareness information was supplied by the Customer Support Service, and the Community Awareness Section within Cleansing Services, who were responsible for these functions over the period concerned.

      The monthly monitoring programme consists of a random 5% sample of streets throughout the city being inspected and graded.  From the grading, a Street Cleanliness Index is calculated and plotted for the various areas of the city, and the city as a whole.

      The index range is from 1 to 100; with a Cleanliness Index of 67 being regarded as an acceptable standard by Tidy NI.  The results show the trends on a month to month basis.  To alleviate the influence of spurious results on the overall index, the results are averaged over the last 4 surveys.  Spurious results may occur for reasons such as adverse weather conditions, seasonal problems etc.

Key Issues

      The overall city wide cleanliness index for this quarter is 76.  This is an increase of 2 on the score from the previous quarter’s cleanliness index of 74.  The index for the same period in the previous year was 74.

      The breakdown by individual area is as follows:

      North

      The North Cleanliness Indices for April 2010 to June 2010 were 73, 75 and 76 respectively.  This represents a small decrease for April (down 1), a similar score for May (75), and an increase for June (up 5), by comparison to those figures for the same period in the previous financial year viz. 74, 75 and 71 respectively. 

      The area is maintaining a consistently very good level of cleanliness

      South

      The South Cleanliness Indices for April 2010 to June 2010 were 79, 79 and 77 respectively.  This represents an increase for April (up 3) and May (up 3), and a small decrease for June (down 1) by comparison to those figures for the same period in the previous financial year viz. 76, 76 and 78 respectively.

      The area is maintaining a consistently very good level of cleanliness.

      East

      The East Cleanliness Indices for April 2010 to June 2010 were 76, 78 and 79 respectively.  This represents an increase for all three months, with April (up 2), May (up 1) and June (up 2), by comparison to those figures for the same period in the previous financial year viz. 74, 77 and 77 respectively. 

      The area is maintaining a consistently very good level of cleanliness.

      West

      The West Cleanliness Indices for April 2010 to June 2010 were 71, 74 and 75 respectively.  This represents a similar score for April (71), and an increase for May (up 3) and June (up 3), by comparison to those figures for the same period in the previous financial year viz. 71, 71 and 72 respectively. 

      The area is maintaining a consistently very good level of cleanliness

      Central

      The Central Cleanliness Indices for April 2010 to June 2010 were 76, 73 and 74 respectively.  This represents an increase for April (up 3), a small decrease for May (down 2), and a similar score for June (74), by comparison to those figures for the same period in the previous financial year viz. 73, 75 and 74 respectively.

      The area is maintaining a consistently very good level of cleanliness.

      Complaints/Enquiries

      There were 1181 complaints/enquiries regarding street cleansing during the quarter (by comparison to 1034 last quarter).

      There were 15 Corporate Complaints made to the Cleansing Service (13 Stage One, 2 Stage Two and 0 Stage Three) during the quarter – two of which related to street cleansing (all Stage 1).

      Enforcement

      There were 428 Fixed Penalty Notices issued under the Litter (NI) Order 1994, and 95 summonses issued.  In addition 255 Article 20 Notices were issued requesting information.

      Community & Education Projects

      During the last quarter the Community Awareness Team launched Year 7 of the anti-litter campaign in the grounds of the City Hall.  The Team also launched two campaigns during the quarter; the ‘Big Sweep’ and the ‘Brighter Belfast’ awards. 

      The Team facilitated 29 community cleanups involving 980 volunteers, and undertook 13 school visits, promoting the anti litter message, involving 730 pupils. 

      The Community Awareness Team also attended 16 community / residents meetings on behalf of Cleansing Services, and attended 6 events engaging with 1837 members of the public. 

Resource Implications

      There are no financial, human resources, asset or other implications in this report.

Recommendation

      The Committee is asked to note the content of this report.”

Noted.