News

Council faces HGV driver shortage for bin lorry collections

By Latifa Yedroudj, Junior Local Democracy Reporter

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Mansfield District Council is facing a shortage of HGV drivers to run bin lorry collections and has had to turn to agency staff.

The council has previously raised concerns over recruiting qualified HGV drivers in the district – leaving them with no option but to hire agency workers to fill in the posts.

A waste and recycling plan was discussed at Mansfield District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 29.

Jez Bannister, the council’s waste and recycling manager said: “We’ve got no vacancies at the moment, we still use agency staff because we do still have issues with recruitment because it’s a demanding job.

“It’s difficult, but we’re in talks with agencies and looking at potentially partnering with an agency, so we can put an induction training program together and share resources.

“Realistically, we can’t tell [drivers] ‘we want you for two days this week, and one day next week’ – or else they could get a job somewhere else.

“So we’re going back to the drawing board.”

Council documents read: “No vacancies outstanding. Concerns continue regarding HGV driver shortage.

“Agency staff continue to provide some additional resources to support service delivery.

“We now have 7 Neighbourhood Services in post to support all services
(including waste & recycling) which means we are now fully staffed.”

The issue of HGV driver shortages in Mansfield was also discussed in previous council meetings.

It was brought up at Mansfield District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on January 28.

Mansfield District Council has also trialled smaller self-operating bin lorries earlier in March.

A driver can operate the vehicle without an HGV or driver CPC qualifications, which is the standard required for regular bin lorry drivers.

The smaller 3.5-tonne vehicle will make rounds to some residents’ homes as part of a planned district-wide roll-out.

The number of missed bin collections remains at 0.1 per cent in Mansfield, which is within the performance target, documents say.

Previous council documents addressed the shortage of HGV drivers, saying the issue would “hamper the recruitment process”.

Notts TV has approached Mansfield District Council for further comment.