COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 10, 2013

MOTION NO. 3

MOTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

To ask the Manager to present a detailed report, for discussion, on the ongoing reforms of the organisation and operation of outdoor staff, with a view to delivering more integrated and effective services in the area of public realm maintenance and improvement, in particular with respect to litter management

REPORT:

Negotiations, under the Public Service Agreement (Croke Park), on the re-organisation of the Cleansing, Operations, Parks and Burial Grounds Sections were successfully concluded in March this year.

The re-organisation involves over 200 outdoor, supervisory and line management staff and over 600 items of plant, equipment and machinery being re-assigned from the former Sections to the new Division. All staff and equipment have now been relocated to one of 7 bases around the county.

The initial transitional phase following relocation must focus on the successful integration of the 4 sets of staff, standardisation of works planning & practices, approaches to Health & Safety, supervision, inspections and standards etc. The provision of training (both formal and informal) to staff is key to a successful transition in ensuring that all staff are available to be deployed throughout the work programme and the full potential of the flexibility available with the new Division can be realised.

The sheer scale of the Programme, with work having been undertaken at in excess of 20,000 work locations over the last year, means that the priority during the transitional phase is to ensure that the programme continues to be delivered to at least the level that pertained prior to re-organisation. Members have previously been updated on the significant amount of work that had been done on putting systems in place to facilitate the aligning of the work programmes of the 4 former Sections before the re-organisation took place. These systems are now helping managers and supervisors to ensure that the work programmes are delivered during the transitional period.

As the integration of the staff and programmes develops, the work programmes are being monitored and opportunities for efficiencies are and will be implemented. Already, the Burial Grounds Maintenance programme has been re-organised and aligned with the grass cutting programme. This change brings the burial grounds into a 3 week routine maintenance regime – a significant improvement in the programme.

Once the transitional phase has progressed and new arrangements have bedded in somewhat, analysis of the works completed will inform an overhaul of the programmes to be undertaken by supervisors, line and senior managers.