Liverpool City Council is considering bringing the city’s street scene and waste collection operation back into the Council’s full control.
These front-line services have been delivered by the council-owned company, Liverpool Streetscene Services Ltd (LSSL), since it was established in 2016.
However, a number of new challenges have arisen causing the Council to rethink the out-sourced model, particularly the need to improve the city’s recycling rates and the introduction of the Council’s new Neighbourhood model.
The new Neighbourhood Model would benefit from street scene and waste collection services being more integrated with other Council services to ensure communities are safe, clean and green. An insourcing arrangement would also enable stronger enforcement against environmental crime and anti-social behaviour.
The Council is establishing a joint working group between LSSL, which employs more than 600 staff, and Council managers to consider the proposal. If the proposal to insource staff is agreed, and subject to consultation, all LSSL staff would transfer to the Council as their new employer.
Households would also not see any change to their waste collection service.
Detailed proposals will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet early in the new year.
Council Leader, Councillor Liam Robinson 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 flytipping 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, Councillor 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.”
