THE team that has enabled Warrington Borough Council to boost waste recycling over the last three years looks set to be axed under Town Hall spending cuts.
Formal consultation starts today (Tuesday) on a redesign of the council’s environment and regeneration directorate with around 15 posts to be deleted. Many others are said to be “at risk.”
Andy Farrall, (pictured) director of environment and regeneration, in a letter to staff, says the directorate has to save £8.1 
million over the next three years.
He says: “Proposals for a new financial framework and organisation structure have been developed, within its new costing envelope.
“The consultation documentation outlines the proposals and business case for the environment and regeneration directorate.
“The redesign may result in a reduction in staff numbers and a potential redundancy situation in some areas of the directorate.”
Mr Farrall advises staff to prioritise attendance at a series of consultation meetings taking place today and on Friday at the Woolston depot, New Town House and Sankey Street.
The consultation will continue until May 16. Unions have been informed of the proposals.
warrington-worldwide has had sight of some of the consultation documents. They show proposals to delete 15 posts – six through voluntary redundancy. One post holder has already resigned.
A Town Hall insider said the consultation documents were only sent to staff yesterday morning.
He highlighted cuts to the waste and recycling team that had, over the last three years, promoted and introduced the blue and green bin recycling and composting schemes.
” There is still a massive amount of work to do with the blue bin scheme expanding again in the summer. The team that is very much a front line service to residents and local communities is to be cut.
“The three members of this team work with community groups and schools, day in day out, undertaking door step education work as recently as January.
“They have visited hundreds of schools, events and community groups and this work must continue if we have any chance of hitting our target of 55 per cent recycling in the next few years. I feel that residents need to know the truth about what is happening.
“If these three posts go there will no longer be the support that residents expect and they will stop recycling and minimising their waste. Tthat will lead to more waste going to landfill. This will mean the council will have to pay more in landfill tax as more waste would be going to landfill. Therefore this proposal is a false economy. The new government is supposed to be a green government and promised to not cut front line services. If the above goes ahead, I think not.”
The council has to pay £48 per tonne for waste that goes to landfill and the rate is set to increase by £8-a-tonne from April 1.
Re-cycling team set to be axed
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
3 Comments
The dedicated, professional and successful staff of the recycling team have benefited not just the residents of Warrington, but the local environment too, then to be rewarded with redundancy, what an insult!
dont get this. Why do residents need support? Why do 3 membersof staff solley have to be employed to promote the system that seesm to work fine now anyway? It appears 15 jobs may go but they dont seem like essential jobs albeit I have sympathy for those who will lose them.
I also dont get the link that losing these jobs will automatically mean that people will go “ho hum i am not getting supported by the council thus the papers that i have thrown in the blue bin i’ll now throw in the black bin”. Sorry but looks like this is cuts beign made where they need to be.
The validity of the recycling expansion programme and its impact on residents’ participation is abundantly clear.
I am a council worker whose team has an equal association with the recycling team and the borough residents.
I can appreciate cuts have to be made (Nationwide) but where borough residents, the borough and the environment are clearly gaining substantial benefits, why here in the recycling team? It would be easier and far better justified to save £ in departments where 10 people do the same job trim to 7 or less…where staff are poor attendees and poor performers….trim here. The council needs to be more ruthless with poor performers. Not the foolish and tolerant employer it has been known to be for these work shy lead swingers!