Council leader Bella Sankey has sent a stark warning to those responsible for recent sabotage and disruption at Cityclean after it was discovered bin lorries have been deliberately vandalised.
CCTV cameras at the council’s Hollingdean depot are being analysed after the wires on two lorries were purposely cut to ensure the vehicles couldn’t operate and therefore couldn’t go out on collection rounds.
Images taken of these lorries show the vehicles have been wilfully damaged which has added to the recent disruptions to the service and the high number of missed refuse and recycling collections throughout the city.
Councillor Sankey has spent many hours at the depot meeting staff and going out with crews on collections to understand the service and ensure improvements are being put in place.
She said today: "We know the vast majority of Cityclean staff are extremely hard working and want to do an excellent job for our residents and the city.
"However, the sabotage and resulting disruption of recent weeks shows there are a small minority who are disrupting our waste and recycling service. Under my leadership, we will not be held to ransom by these people.
“The cutting of lorry wires is unlawful and scandalous, and is extremely dangerous to our staff.
“It's also criminal activity which has been reported and is being investigated by Sussex Police."
No vehicles leave the depot until they are checked by managers, but town hall bosses say the sabotage and vehicle defects have increased dramatically following dismissal action that was taken as a result of the KC report published last October.
Also at this time a post on the GMB Sussex branch 'X' account stated: “Chaos set to hit the city of Brighton. The sleeping giant has awoken watch this Twitter feed for further information.”
This twitter post was subsequently deleted and the GMB made a statement disowning the tweet and saying it would investigate it. The results of that investigation have not yet been published.
The council is leading a programme of culture change to reorganise, improve and modernise the service after the damning King’s Counsel report into Cityclean, commissioned by the council, which highlighted a culture of racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying and violence at the depot.
Councillor Sankey added: “Ensuring we have a waste and recycling service that keeps our city clean and tidy is an absolute priority for myself and the leadership of the council.
“We’re taking the necessary steps to find out who is responsible for this illegal sabotage and they will face the most serious disciplinary action.”
A letter to staff from Donna Chisholm, the council's Executive Director for Economy Environment & Culture, about the sabotage, states: “From the outset I want to thank all our hardworking staff who have kept the service going recently under very challenging and changing conditions.
“I also know the vast majority of you take pride in your work and set out every day to provide a great service to our residents and businesses.
“Sadly, I’m also writing to everyone regarding the recent disruption to services due to an increase in the number of vehicle defects.
“As you may know, there’s been deliberate damage to two vehicles where wires have been cut. This is unacceptable.
“I know you’ll be concerned because deliberate damage can be very dangerous and certainly causes disruption to your rounds.
“I want to reassure you, we take deliberate vehicle damage extremely seriously.
“We’re reviewing our CCTV and are determined find out who is carrying out this criminal damage. Once identified they’ll face the most serious disciplinary action.”
Ms Chisholm adds: “The huge amount of dropped work and missed collections has led to residents and customers feeling the service we’re now providing is poor, which is not a good reflection on the hard work that staff carry out on a daily basis.”
Cityclean managers say they’re beginning to clear the backlog of missed collections – for both residential and communal bins - and are trying to ensure extra waste around the latter is cleared away as soon as possible.
There’s also been a recruitment drive which will see 10 new drivers and operatives joining the service. Additional agency staff have been recruited to help get the service back on track.