'City is being held to ransom by waste collectors'

Brighton & Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey has apologised to residents for a 140% increase in missed bin collections over the last six months.

Ms Sankey said a lack of investment in waste collection vehicles and the bin depot's paper-based systems, rather than digital, mean service reliability has reduced.

But the main reason for missed bin collections, according to Ms Sankey, is "ongoing behaviour" by a small number of employees at the city's bin depot.

She said the council is working with police to resolve the issues and "will not be held to ransom anymore in this city by this small group of individuals".

A report from 2023 found "abuses and violence" at the bin depot in Hollingdean, which is run by the council's waste management service, formerly known as Cityclean.

Council officers found a sword, nunchucks and knives in the GMB trade union's office at the site, as well as instances of bullying, intimidation, racism, sexism and homophobia.

Ms Sankey said her council set about making changes at the depot that were recommended in the report, but told BBC Radio Sussex on Thursday that the problems continue.

In January of this year, a death threat was made to a manager at Cityclean, according to a report to Brighton and Hove City Council's cabinet.

Ms Sankey said: "We are on it, we are working with the police, there are investigations going on. They know who they are and they're not going to get away with it any longer."

Roughly 40 people have left Cityclean since the report was published in 2023 and Ms Sankey said she was confident of a "marked improvement" in reliability in two years time.

Ms Sankey was also quizzed on the ongoing fire risks at ten blocks of council flats, meaning they are now patrolled 24 hours each day by safety officers.

She said the council was "absolutely committed to being the best possible social housing landlord" and that it had invested "a huge amount" of money in remediation work.

She said it may be necessary to replace the blocks.

Ms Sankey also spoke about the sale of the i360 after it was revealed the new owners bought it for £150,000, without taking on the £51m the previous owners owed to the council.

She said the options were either to let the structure decay, let a new owner have a go at running it or invest more taxpayer money and for the council to run the attraction itself.

"I don't think there would've been support for that in the city," she said.

The interview is the latest in a series questioning the bosses of some of Sussex's biggest organisations, including Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne and chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority Siôn McGeever.

Listeners will also have the opportunity to ask their own questions.

You can listen to BBC Radio Sussex here and to the full interview with Bella Sankey on BBC Sounds.

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