Sweeping changes

1:55pm Monday 26th March 2001

An action plan which aims to improve the quality of street cleaning throughout Croydon has been drawn up following an inspection which exposed deficiencies in some areas.

The review team - which included the managing director of cleansing contractors MRS Environmental Services and Croydon Council's director of public services and works - found many welcome signs of better standards.

But they also found areas with 'particular deficiencies'. These include parts of Purley, Sanderstead, Selsdon, South Norwood and Waddon.

Problems addressed in the action plan include a lack of mechanical sweeping, vehicle shortages, under-performance by individual crews, inadequate supervision by MRS management and overstretched beats.

Also highlighted as a cause of unsatisfactory work were inadequate communications with crews and the non-availability of a hit-squad.

In consequence, even though Croydon's audited street cleaning performance indicators show the town's streets are cleaner than those London-wide, the eight-point plan has identified key areas for attention.

These include using agency workers to make up for staff shortages, equipping cleansing crews with mobile phones or radios and moving towards a seven-day operation.

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