Stirling Council spent £20,000 writing to residents over cancelled additional bin collections

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Stirling Council spent almost £20,000 sending letters to residents advising them of additional blue bin collections over the festive period – which were then suspended due to a staff shortage.

The council was forced to cancel bin collections at a number of locations due to staff absences as a result of workers testing positive for coronavirus or being deemed to be a close contact, forcing them into isolation.

Prior to being scrapped, residents were sent letters explaining that the additional collections were scheduled to take away much of the waste amassed over Christmas and new year.The council this week confirmed to the Observer that this was done at a cost of £19,753.54 from the public coffers.A council spokesperson said: “The letters issued by the council detailed our plans for all waste and recycling bin collections over the festive period and are part of our annual waste service communications at this time of year.

Letter drops ensure every household is reached and informed of changes across the service over the festive period. These annual costs are budgeted for by the waste service.“Unfortunately, we had to cancel some of the additional blue bin collections that had been arranged for the festive period, due to reduced staff numbers as a result of Covid-19.“All other scheduled household bin collections are being collected and resources have been prioritised for these.“The recent disruption was understandably frustrating for residents who had been receiving an average 94-per cent completion of bin uplifts prior to these Covid enforced absences, and we thank everyone for their patience and continued understanding as we work to return to normal operations.”Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area.St