'Blighted by litter and late waste collections' - Merton MPs hit out at Veolia

Both of Merton's MPs have written scathing letters to the council ahead of a meeting to discuss the state of waste collections in the borough.

On Thursday, the Wimbledon Times reported that the council had been paying more money to Veolia than what the agreed contract stipulated.

This was in order to provide additional resources on Wednesdays and Thursdays in some of the worst affected areas for waste collection.

Since the publication of the report prepared for the meeting, both Siobhain McDonagh and Stephen Hammond have written letters airing their concerns.

"I am writing on behalf of the residents of Wimbledon who have been blighted by litter and late waste collections since the contract with Veolia came into force in October 2018," Mr Hammond wrote.
"On a nearly daily basis I am contacted by constituents regarding Veolia’s performance.

"These complaints touch upon all elements of the council and Veolia’s duty to deal with waste and cover street litter, overflowing public bins, fly-tipping uncollected private bins and litter covering the streets after the bin collection."

Wimbledon MP @S_Hammond has added more @VeoliaUK failures to the submissions for the Sustainable Communities Scrutiny & Overview Panel meeting on 3rd Sep.
Others include Mitcham & Morden MP letter, Residents Associations, & residents speaking#muckymertonhttps://t.co/tCM0iH2FGY pic.twitter.com/Uwusr2jYXC
- Mark Gale (@MarkGale) August 30, 2019

The Conservative MP added that fly-tipping in particular had been a major issue as "there is often a dispute" over whether it is the duty of the council or Veolia to deal with the waste.

"Merton Council should be scrutinised for the poor procurement of this contract and the full costs be made transparent," he wrote.

"The council has a history for poor contract management this must improve and a clear plan for such should be subject to scrutiny.

In the letter Ms McDonagh penned, she said that communication from the council needed to be better.

"Residents frequently raise how difficult it is to report on the council’s website, particularly when it includes fly-tipping close to or in public rights of way," the Labour MP wrote.

"These difficulties create a disincentive to residents reporting problems, thereby preventing the council from understating the full extent of the problem with the service.

"In addition, many residents, particularly those who are older, prefer to contact the council by telephone.

"My office receives many complaints about the difficulty in knowing who to contact in addition to the length of times they are required to wait to get through."

In a statement issued by the Merton's cabinet member for adult social care, health and environment, Tobin Byers, in response to the revelation that the council was paying Veolia extra money he admitted that the standard of service wasn't up to par.

"We are continuing to collect side waste at limited additional cost in parts of the borough, whilst we work with the residents to implement behaviour change we need to support cleaner streets and improved recycling," he said.

"This isn’t about paying Veolia twice it is a sensible and appropriate approach to ensuring that we work with those residents who need more support in making the changes necessary.

"In parallel we continue to properly enforce the contract and to make deductions where Veolia performance falls below the contract standard.”