Bin collection services in Wiltshire are finally back to normal after months of disruption, according to a report discussed in the council’s Environment Select Committee on Tuesday.

From March to the end of June there was great disruption, and an increasing number of bin collection rounds were missed - but a plan to get the service back on track has succeeded.

“Overall, we’re very pleased with the service we’re receiving,” said Councillor Dr Mark McClelland, cabinet member for transport, waste, street scene and flooding.

“This week is an unusual collection week but before this week for the whole of September all the collection services have been back to normal," Assistant Director of Environment for Wiltshire Council, Sarah Valdus, added.

"We’ve had no delay or uncompleted rounds in September.”

The report said: “Current performance reporting suggests that Hills are now completing the majority of scheduled collections on time, with only relatively few rounds needing to be rescheduled to the following day.”  

This recovery plan began on 27 June and was due to be completed by end of August 2022.

The business responsible for the bin service, Hills Municipal Collections Ltd, were understaffed and failed to get any more drivers so the number of bins missed kept getting worse.

Strikes in March also created major disruptions to the service and there were a significant number of missed collections following the industrial action.

The council formally served a Notice of Serious Breach on the Contractor on 16 June, for an exceptional period of poor performance and demanded a well-developed remediation plan to be shared with the council.

This meant Hills had to explain what had gone wrong and what they were going to do about it.

Their first plan was rejected by the council because it would not have fixed the problems fast enough but the second was accepted.

Hills was recruiting staff from agencies and advertising jobs on a temporary or permanent basis but now must advertise all jobs as permanent to provide a sense of job security to applicants.

Hills must now commit to weekly remediation plan review meetings.

The council will continue to monitor the service carefully, as the report adds: “In the face of increasing competition for professional drivers and recognising current and anticipated cost of living concerns, the council will continue to closely monitor the performance of the Lot 5 contract and contract establishment levels, intervening again if required.”