Litter In Sheffield?

[ECCOnoob]

8 hours ago, Colin Foster said:

Oh come on it's hardly likely is it, one extra bin bag in the wagon.

 

In any case I strongly suspect they were fobbing me off as I cannot see the logic, even by SCC's standards, of having a list of bins to empty in an area except for one. No more likely they took umbrage with a member of the public pointing it out to them, or just couldn't be bothered. They empty the bins on the main road every day but this one is set back and is often left for weeks overflowing. A neighbour is reporting it all the time, but it still gets left.

There is a chance it is very likely. Never underestimate the levels of bureaucracy and internal warring politics within the councils. 

 

It really isn't as simple as just "chucking an extra bag on the wagon". The council, or more likely their outsourced company, will have a very detailed specific plan and agreement of what they will pick up, how frequently they will pick it up and how much they will pick up. All of which will be assessed and costed down to the absolute penny. Some bean counter with a clipboard will be monitoring that item on the contracted service agreement and if they see unaccounted extras they will raise complaint with the council who in turn will have to to raise it with their procurement executive who will have to pass it down to the waste operations sub committee who will have endless investigation meetings and next thing you know invoices are being  challenged and the lawyers have a field day.

 

In the meantime, Bob on the wagon who thought he was doing good by checking in the extra rubbish bag gets a telling off from his management for breaching service plan matrix rule 6, his fellow workers show solidarity by walking out and then nobody's bins get emptied for a week or two.

 

Round and round it goes.

 

Its partly for this sort of incompetent ludicrous bureaucracy that goodwill of volunteers is needed to fill in the gaps in the first place. I never believed that all failures can be simply excused by whining "the government under funds us".  

Edited March 4, 2021 by ECCOnoob

[El Cid]

One thing that is strange, 90% of the volunteers picking litter are female.

[carosio]

1 hour ago, El Cid said:

One thing that is strange, 90% of the volunteers picking litter are female.

Possible that male "street cred" is involved here and tidying the street is viewed as a woman thing.

[Guest]

On 04/03/2021 at 10:01, ECCOnoob said:

There is a chance it is very likely. Never underestimate the levels of bureaucracy and internal warring politics within the councils. 

 

It really isn't as simple as just "chucking an extra bag on the wagon". The council, or more likely their outsourced company, will have a very detailed specific plan and agreement of what they will pick up, how frequently they will pick it up and how much they will pick up. All of which will be assessed and costed down to the absolute penny. Some bean counter with a clipboard will be monitoring that item on the contracted service agreement and if they see unaccounted extras they will raise complaint with the council who in turn will have to to raise it with their procurement executive who will have to pass it down to the waste operations sub committee who will have endless investigation meetings and next thing you know invoices are being  challenged and the lawyers have a field day.

 

In the meantime, Bob on the wagon who thought he was doing good by checking in the extra rubbish bag gets a telling off from his management for breaching service plan matrix rule 6, his fellow workers show solidarity by walking out and then nobody's bins get emptied for a week or two.

 

Round and round it goes.

 

Its partly for this sort of incompetent ludicrous bureaucracy that goodwill of volunteers is needed to fill in the gaps in the first place. I never believed that all failures can be simply excused by whining "the government under funds us".  

That's probably correct and one of the best arguments against privatisation that I have heard.

[El Cid]

Sheffield was on Look North today, an interview to do with football I believe. The area where the interviewee was stood was strewn with litter. You guys need to take pride in your city and get it sorted.

[carosio]

Saw Council litter-pickers working on Wordsworth Avenue other day, they were using leaf blowers to push litter off verges into the gutter where it was collected by those mini-road sweepers. Hope they swept near the school as that's one of the worst areas.

[El Cid]

On 04/03/2021 at 01:52, Colin Foster said:

In any case I strongly suspect they were fobbing me off as I cannot see the logic, even by SCC's standards, of having a list of bins to empty in an area except for one. No more likely they took umbrage with a member of the public pointing it out to them, or just couldn't be bothered. They empty the bins on the main road every day but this one is set back and is often left for weeks overflowing. A neighbour is reporting it all the time, but it still gets left.

I can see why the workman was just doing what he was told, but there doesnt seem to be any loyalty to ones employer these day.

They are all just doing their job, jobsworths.

A jobsworth is a person who uses the (typically minor) authority of their job in a deliberately uncooperative way, or who seemingly delights in acting in an obstructive or unhelpful manner. It characterizes one who upholds petty rules even at the expense of effectiveness or efficiency.

Surely an employee should be a good representative for their employer?

So if you work in the refuse department, if you see a problem that needs reporting, to any department, they should report it. No one has any pride these days, in the local area or in the job.

[Bargepole23]

2 hours ago, El Cid said:

Sheffield was on Look North today, an interview to do with football I believe. The area where the interviewee was stood was strewn with litter. You guys need to take pride in your city and get it sorted.

No different to any other city. Not that I'm saying it shouldn't be litter free, but I could find a litter strewn area in any city.

[El Cid]

44 minutes ago, Bargepole23 said:

No different to any other city. Not that I'm saying it shouldn't be litter free, but I could find a litter strewn area in any city.

The thought crossed my mind that the film crew should have done a quick litter pick before filming.

[Anna B]

17 hours ago, El Cid said:

I can see why the workman was just doing what he was told, but there doesnt seem to be any loyalty to ones employer these day.

They are all just doing their job, jobsworths.

A jobsworth is a person who uses the (typically minor) authority of their job in a deliberately uncooperative way, or who seemingly delights in acting in an obstructive or unhelpful manner. It characterizes one who upholds petty rules even at the expense of effectiveness or efficiency.

Surely an employee should be a good representative for their employer?

So if you work in the refuse department, if you see a problem that needs reporting, to any department, they should report it. No one has any pride these days, in the local area or in the job.

No autonomy anymore. All the decisions are made by faceless unaccountable bureaucrats. We're all just cogs in the machine.