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Sharp rise in Vale Council complaints

Friday, 13 September 2024 at 16:59

By Ted Peskett - Local Democracy Reporter X @TedPeskettNews

Vale Council saw complaints increase sharply last year with many of them coming as a result of missed garden waste collections which residents now have to pay for.

A new report shows that complaints to the local authority went up from 495 in 2022/23 to 737 in 2023/24.

The report, which was presented to one of the council’s scrutiny committees, also shows that 57% of complaints were resolved within the target timescales. However, this was up from 51.8% in the previous year.

Speaking at a homes and safe communities meeting on Wednesday, Vale Council’s director of environment and housing, Miles Punter, said the complaints were mainly directed at waste services.

Mr Punter said: “Some of them are down to missed collections for our refuse service."

“Some of them are down to missed collections for the green waste service as well and I think you can’t blame the public for complaining when their green waste isn’t being picked up when they are paying for it.”

Vale Council stopped collecting garden waste for free in July last year, when they began charging a single £20 fee for a fortnightly collection of up to eight bags of garden waste or a £30 fee for more than eight bags.

The council currently charges either £36 per year for up to eight bags per collection, or £54 per year for more than eight bags per collection.

Mr Punter added: “Some of the issues in terms of waste collections are down to the fact that we are trying to minimise the resources that we put on on a day to day basis in terms of the refuse service because our budgets are tight."

“We have breakdowns or we have vehicle issues or staffing issues. We are a bit slower to respond than what we perhaps had been in previous years when finances have been better."

“We are working on that and one of the ways we can deal with it is by properly publishing our service standards so that the expectations of the public match the ability of the service we are able to provide.”

Vale Council, like other councils across the country, are facing significant financial pressure due to a number of issues including rising costs and increased demand on services.

The council is currently expecting to face a budget gap of about £9 million in the next financial year (2025/26). This year, it has had to bridge a budget gap of more than £7 mililion.

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