Service Standards and Response Times

We have to keep any land under our control as clear of litter and refuse as possible. This is a legal duty under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. We use a National Code of Practice which sets out standards of cleanliness which local authorities should achieve. It also sets out how quickly we should respond when we fail to keep the cleanliness of our land to these standards. 

What are our service standards?

We guarantee to provide the following levels of service:

• We will provide a cost effective total street sweeping service to ensure that streets are kept free from litter and refuse.
• We will respond to all complaints regarding build-up of litter and to restore standards of cleanliness within the time limits allowed by law.
• We will actively promote increased environmental awareness by participating with local schools and Residents Associations.
• We will listen to any problems and concerns which you may have about this service.
• We will make sure that mistakes are put right quickly.

We make sure that we meet our service standards by co-ordinating and constantly reviewing our cleansing service. We aim to achieve a cost effective and efficient service to meet our clearly defined standards. Competitive market testing helps us to make sure that our service provides maximum economy and value for money.

How often do we clean the streets?

How often we clean a street depends on where it is in the city. Streets in the city centre will need more work to keep clean than those in suburbs.

We have designed our service around three distinct areas of the city. These are:

• Shopping/district centres – Zone 1
• High Density Residential areas (terraces) – Zone 2
• Low Density Residential areas (other) – Zone 3

Summer Frequencies

We carry out a 'One Pass' street cleansing and grounds maintenance service which means grass is cut, litter is removed, and the streets are swept all in one operation.

Winter Frequencies

• Zone 1 – channel sweeping 4 weekly, footway sweeping 2 weekly and litter picking daily (7 days)
• Zone 2 – Channel sweeping 8 weekly, footway sweeping 6 weekly and litter picking 2 weekly
• Zone 3 – channel sweeping 8 weekly, footway sweeping 6 weekly and litter picking 2 weekly

How do we keep the streets clean?

There are five litter spot teams each consisting of a driver and labourer, working in neighbourhoods.  The six town centre areas of Longton, Fenton, Tunstall, Meir, Burslem and Stoke, each have a dedicated operative to keep these clean over seven days a week.

The city centre will also receive a cleansing service, 24 hours per day service. Ensuring the streets in the city centre are clean when workers and shoppers arrive each morning is an huge task and requires a lot of resources. There will be a day time and night time cleansing shift to provide a 24 hour, seven day a week cleansing service.

We also use one mobile response team to respond to complaints from customers which require urgent attention.

Cleansing response times

• Fly Tipping - car boot to small lorry load - will be removed within one working day of being reported. Larger amounst will be removed as soon as arrangements can be made.
• Syringe/Drugs - will be removed within two hours of being reported.
• Dead Animals - will be removed within two hours of being reported.
• Graffiti - racial, abusive or offensive - will be removed within one working day of being reported. All other will be removed within five working days of being reported. On private property we will remove graffiti free of charge if a disclaimer is signed.
• Fly-posting will be removed within five working days of being reported.
• Dog fouling will be removed within 48 hours of being reported.
• Fly-tipping service standards

When we receive a complaint of fly tipping an officer responds quickly, the same day if possible, in order to investigate and photograph the scene before it gets disturbed. If suitable evidence or witnesses can be obtained, we carry out further investigations and take appropriate action ranging from warning letters, the serving of legal notices, to prosecution for fly tipping.

The penalties for fly tipping can be severe and can run into thousands of pounds. The council will try to remove fly tipped material as soon as possible, where it is on Council Land. If the material is on private land, it is the responsibility of the owner of the land to remove it. We will try to assist land owners whenever possible by taking appropriate enforcement action against fly tippers.

Other cleansing services

The streets are weedkilled between March and September. Five operatives with quad bikes spray weedkiller onto the pavements and channels. Over 500 miles of highway and 30 miles of back entries are treated annually.

The bus shelters on the highways are washed on a pre-determined route using a hot pressure wash.

All staff are required to remove unauthorised signs from street furniture.

We also operate an 24 hour call out service to cover emergency work such as road traffic accidents, oil spillages and tree problems. Phone 01782 234234.

The A50 and A500 road surfaces are the responsibility of  the Highways Agency based at:

• St. Christopher House,
  Southwark Street,
  London,
  SE1 0TE.

We are responsible only for the removal of litter from grass verges along the length of these roads which fall within the boundry of the city.

Measuring our performance

A number of performance measures have been established and are shown below. By using these measures we can identify our standards of performance, assess what changes needed (if any) and set our guarantee of service.

• Target Cleanliness Standard indices
• Cost per resident per year
• Cost per mile of road
• Percentage of complaints responded to within timescales laid down in the National Code of Practice
• Level of complaints against defined standards
• Number of initiatives progressed in consultation with the local Tidy Britain Group and Residents Associations
• Number of educational initiatives introduced to reduce the amount of littering arising for collection
• BVPI 199 A-D
• BVPI 89