£1.8m bins boost to cut delays and improve safety

Waste services in Barnsley could be in line for a funding boost of nearly £2m to avoid a repetition of problems earlier this year which saw 100,000 bin collections missed and others seriously delayed.

Collections were badly hit by poor weather in January and did not fully recover until April after the council spent £40,000 on more agency crews and hire vehicles.

The proposed £1.8m of extra cash would pay for a further six crews per week and ensure rounds were finished each day, according to Barnsley Council.

James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment, said the plan, to be considered by councillors, "recognises we can't return to the level of disruption we saw earlier this year".

According to the council, catching up took much longer than had been hoped due to changes to the waste service as part of the authority's recent safety inititative.

This was prompted by a coroner's recommendations following the death of a waste operative in another part of the country.

In the last three years, 70 collisions in Barnsley had involved waste vehicles, a spokesperson for the authority said.

Its Be Safe, Work Safe, Target Zero initiative had made crews work slower, but had reduced the number of avoidable accidents, they added.

Higginbottom said the council must remain "absolutely focused and committed" to health and safety.

"It's absolutely heartbreaking that elsewhere in the country people have lost their lives working in waste and recycling," Mr Higginbottom added.

"We won't be complacent or risk the welfare of our employees or the public."

Meanwhile, the council said it was investing in technology in waste vehicles which would supply "real-time data and insights" on missed collections, blocked roads and other issues.

It said it had also proposed that new brown and blue bins be supplied to residents in an effort to save individuals money on upsizing or replacing old bins.

That would also result in additional income for the council from the government's recycling incentive schemes, the spokesperson said.

Cabinet members would be asked at a meeting on 28 May to approve the £1.8m investment to "support, rebalance and build resilience into the service so rounds can be completed at the end of each day", they added.

Higginbottom said: "I'm delighted to support this investment which will help make sure our staff remain safe at work while also making sure residents receive the waste collection service they expect and deserve."

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