UK's Dirtiest Streets
Monday 7th June 2010
Councillors should be clear
that for street cleaning, as for other public services, "you get
what you pay for"- GMB Congress in Southport is told
England's dirtiest streets were in the
London Borough of Merton while the cleanest were in Kensington
&Chelsea, Slough and West Somerset according to the latest
available official figures from the Audit Commission. The figures
are contained in new national and regional league tables which were
complied by GMB and were published today at the GMB Congress in
Southport. (See Note 1 below for details on GMB Congress).
In Merton 49% of
relevant land and highways assessed had deposits of detritus that
fall below an acceptable level while 21% also had unacceptable of
levels of litter. (See Note 2 below on definitions and standards).
Next in the league were Hounslow and North Hertfordshire where
44% of relevant land and highways assessed had
deposits of detritus that fall below an acceptable level. 15% of
streets in Hounslow, and 6% in North Hertfordshire, also had
unacceptable of levels of litter.
Kensington & Chelsea, Slough and
West Somerset had the cleanest streets in England. None of relevant
land and highways assessed all 3 areas had deposits of detritus
that fall below an acceptable level. Streets in West Somerset and
Slough were also free of litter while 2% of those in Kensington and
Chelsea did not meet levels for litter.
For all 345 councils in England 12% of
relevant land and highways assessed had deposits of detritus that
fall below an acceptable level while 5% had unacceptable of levels
of litter. 129 councils in England had streets dirtier than the
national average for detritus. Different measures are used in
Scotland and Wales and there are separate GMB releases for each
one.
The figures for each of the top ten
councils with the dirtiest streets in England for 2008/09 are shown
in the table below. At the foot of this release on the GMB website
is the full data for England, in pdf format, plus the regional
releases with the regional league tables. (See Note 3 for
sources).
TOP 10 COUNCILS WITH THE DIRTIEST STREETS IN
ENGLAND
|
|
The % of relevant land and highways
assessed as having deposits of detritus that fall below an
acceptable level
|
The % of relevant land and highways
assessed as having deposits of litter that fall below an acceptable
level
|
|
England
|
12
|
5
|
|
|
|
|
|
Merton LB
|
49
|
21
|
|
Hounslow LB
|
44
|
15
|
|
North Hertfordshire DC
|
44
|
6
|
|
South Northamptonshire DC
|
43
|
7
|
|
Hertsmere DC
|
40
|
18
|
|
Bromley LB
|
36
|
24
|
|
Bradford MD
|
36
|
19
|
|
North Lincolnshire UA
|
36
|
14
|
|
Thurrock UA
|
35
|
23
|
|
Epsom & Ewell DC
|
35
|
6
|
Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary
speaking at Southport said, "There is an alarmingly high
and dangerous level of dirty streets and pavements in far too many
places. On average the 12% of streets that are officially
classified as unacceptable is bad enough but there are 129 councils
in England that have a higher proportion than that which is totally
unacceptable.
Local communities deserve
clean and healthy environments. GMB know that clean streets are
perfectly feasible everywhere, it's just a matter of ensuring there
are enough properly trained and equipped street cleaners employed
to do the job.
Councillors should be clear
that for street cleaning, as for other public services, you get
what you pay for. The next thing that failed politicians may come
out with is that people, as well as paying their council tax,
should clean the streets themselves."
End
Contacts: GMB Brian
Strutton 07860 606137 or Justin Bowden 07710 631351or GMB Press
Office: Steve Pryle on 07921 289880 and Rose Conroy on 07974
251823. GMB delegates and officers are available for interview via
the GMB Press Office.
Notes to Editors:
1 GMB Congress 2010, which
comprises up to1,000 delegates and workplace representatives from
all over the UK, is being held at the Floral Hall Southport
Convention Centre from Sunday 6th June to Wednesday
9th June. GMB is Britain's third largest union with
611,000 members who work in every industry in the UK economy. You
can watch GMB Congress 2010 Live on GMB Congress TV at www.gmb.org.uk/congresstv
2 Definitions and standards
1) Detritus comprises dust, mud, soil,
grit, gravel, stones, rotted leaf and vegetable residues, and
fragments of twigs, glass, plastic and other finely divided
materials. Detritus includes leaf and blossom falls when they have
substantially lost their structure and have become mushy or
fragmented. A significant and avoidable source of detritus is
uncollected grass cuttings that have started to decompose.
2) Litter includes mainly synthetic
materials, often associated with smoking, eating and drinking, that
are improperly discarded and left by members of the public; or are
spilt during waste management operations. Litter may also include
putrescible or clinical wastes, or faeces such as dog, bird and
other animal faeces.
3) For England how relevant land and
highways is assessed and what are the levels of detritus and litter
that fall below an acceptable level is set out in website
http://cleanliness-indicator.defra.gov.uk/
For Scotland how relevant land and highways is assessed and how the
overall cleanliness index is calculated is set out
http://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/performance/docs/2008/service/profWM08.pdf
For Wales how relevant land and
highways is assessed and how the overall cleanliness index is
calculated is set out
http://www.dataunitwales.gov.uk/Documents/PMFDocs11/PMF04000_STS_SET_1011_v1_eng.doc#STS005
3 Sources: The league
table for England was compiled by GMB from the National Indicators
2008-2009 for which the source is the Audit Commission and the data
is from National Indicator Set 195a & b Improved street and
environmental cleanliness. The league table for Wales was compiled
by GMB from the National Assembly for Wales Performance Indicators
2008-2009 and the source is the Local Government Data Unit
Wales. For Scotland the data is from Scotland
Performance Indicators 2008-2009 and the source is Audit Scotland.
For information on how measures in England, Scotland and Wales
compare call 07739 182691.
Full
table of figures
Related Release for the East Midlands
Related Release for the East of England
Related Release for London
Related Release for the North East
Related Release for the North West
Related Release for Scotland
Related Release for the South East
Related Release for the South West
Related Release for Wales
Related Release for the West Midlands
Related Release for Yorkshire &
Humberside.