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PUBLIC CLEANSING SERVICE
Responsibility for day-to-day organisation and control of the Cleansing Service is
delegated by the Borough Engineer and Surveyor to the Cleansing Officer who is assisted by a
Deputy and twelve junior officers.
The Services cover three main divisions of work:-
Collection of household and trade refuse;
Street sweeping and removal of abandoned vehicles;
Public Conveniences.
Guiding Principles
In dealing with Public Cleansing the Council has adopted certain objectives which are:Maximum
Service to the Public.
Public cleansing in general affects everyone and failure to achieve and maintain satisfactory
services can result in serious public health and amenity problems for the community.
Respect for Employees
All forms of public cleansing work are basically unattractive, essential though they are.
Every effort has been made, therefore, as a matter of policy to make work in this field as acceptable
as possible to the individual employee and to recognise and acknowledge the importance of
his work and, where practicable, to lighten his task by selection of right tools and equipment,
reduction in weight of bins, and mechanisation. Wherever possible services are based on work
studied methods and bonus incentive schemes applied.
Dustless Collection
From public health and amenity points of view, it is regarded as essential that the
transfer of refuse from its source to point of disposal should be as dustless as possible. Such a
policy is clearly complementary to that of establishing smoke control areas, but it is admitted
that early methods of collection were often the source of offence and complaint to residents and
passers-by. The introduction of dustless collection has been retarded by difficulties which have
been largely overcome as described later.
Refuse Collection
A total of 64,257 tons of refuse of all kinds was collected and dealt with in the Borough
during 1966/67, this service currently employed some 160 men and 46 vehicles at a net cost
estimated at £329,891 for the present financial year, this figure including £26,400 for the provision
of refuse bins and other improvements. As previously indicated, Work Study principles
have been applied and a bonus incentive scheme devised which, on completion of the set daily
task over each of the five days in the normal working week, yields an addition of 33⅓ of the
basic wage.
It has not yet been possible, since the formation of the new London Borough in April
1965, to provide the centralised facilities which are needed to enable maximum efficiency to be
achieved, but much has already been done to provide a uniform service throughout the Borough.
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