Booking System for Recycling Centres
Dear Ards and North Down Borough Council,
I wish to make the following FOI request under the UK Freedom of Information act concerning the recently introduced booking system for accessing recycling centres in Ards & North Down.
Please answer the following questions:
1. What was the total annual cost of running and managing all the recycling centres in Ards & North Down prior to the introduction of the online Booking system?
2. What is the total cost of implementing the online booking system for the recycling centres in Ards & North Down?
3. What is the projected total annual cost of running and managing the recycling centres in Ards & North Down after implementation of the online booking system?
4. Is the current online booking scheme a trial only or has this online booking scheme been formally ratified and passed by Ards & North Down Borough Council? If not explain how it was approved.
5. In the light of recent major data protection breach incidents involving third parties handling personal data, eg Capita-USS Pension Scheme, PSNI etc, is the Council aware that end users of the recycling centres in Ards & North Down are very concerned and unhappy about having to provide their personal data in order to access the facility in their locality in order to dispose of household and garden waste. Previously this was not a requirement?
6. Is the Council aware that many recycling centre end users have limited or no access to online booking and telephone booking lines are often engaged?
7. Is the Council aware that in GB for example Scotland eg Fife & Aberdeen and England eg Essex, Bracknell and Warwick, there are now calls and plans for online booking for recycling centres to be scrapped as it was very unpopular with residents and led to increased fly tipping?
If you could please answer these questions I would be most grateful.
Regards,
Des O'Malley
Dear Mr O'Malley,
Thank you for your email dated 26 September 2023 to Ards and North Down Borough Councill.
Your request for information regarding the Household Recycling Centres and the online booking system will be processed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Accordingly, you will receive the information you have requested unless the Council does not hold the information or there is a reason to withhold all or part of the information requested. The Council will write to you in any event.
For further information in relation to the Freedom of Information Act we would refer you to the Information Commissioner's Office website, http://www.ico.org.uk/
Regards,
FOI Team
Ards and North Down Borough Council
City Hall
The Castle
Bangor
BT20 4BT
0300 013 3333
Dear Mr O'Malley,
We refer to the above matter and write further to our acknowledgement email of 26 September 2023.
Ards and North Down Borough Council has processed your request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and please see the Council’s response below.
1. What is the total annual cost of running and managing all the recycling centres in Ards & North Down prior to the introduction of the online Booking system? £1,455,992.00
2. What is the total cost of implementing the online booking system for the recycling centres in Ards & North Down?
£10,495 for the commission, design, and implementation, and also maintenance costs of £4,995 per annum for licence fees and for software support. Tablets previously on sites have had the software added at no extra cost and only extra cost for water/bump proof cases for the tablets which cost £25 for each of the nine sites. Training was completed in house so no additional costs and no additional staff were employed due to the introduction of the system.
3. What is the projected total annual cost of running and managing the recycling centres in Ards & North Down after implementation of the online booking system?
This is due to be completed in the estimates process for the 2024/25 financial year which begins in mid-October 2023.
4. Is the current online booking scheme a trial only or has this online booking scheme been ratified and passed formally by the Council?
The booking system has been ratified and passed formally by the Council. The Council has agreed to review the implementation process.
5. In the light of recent major data protection breach incidents involving personal data, eg Capita-USS Pension Scheme, PSNI etc, is the Council aware that end users of the recycling centres are very concerned and unhappy about having to provide their personal data in order to access the facility in their locality in order to dispose of household and garden waste. Previously this was not a requirement?
The Council is not aware of widespread concern amongst residents about having to provide personal data to use the booking system. Most if not all residents are already required to provide a wide range of personal data to other public and private organisations to access and use various goods and services; this is no different, and all personal data held by the Council for this and other Council service delivery purposes will be held and used in strict accordance with the requirements of GDPR and in line with the internationally-recognised Information Security Management System Standard, ISO 27001.
6. Is the Council aware that many recycling centre end users have limited or no access to online booking and telephone booking lines are often engaged?
The Council does not accept that access to the internet is limited for a significant proportion of its residents, and there is no evidence that the Council is aware of showing that access to telephone booking option is unsatisfactory. Research was carried out in England by DEFRA on users of HRC online booking systems and found that:
“86% of Local Authority respondents to our survey believed that the local community was either satisfied or very satisfied with their booking system. Only a few considered that the local community was neutral (5%) or dissatisfied (5%)”.
In its first week of operation 6,262 bookings have been made for visits to sites – 95% are online bookings and 5% are telephone bookings using the dedicated telephone line for the sites.
7. Is the Council aware that in Scotland eg Fife and England eg Bracknell there are now calls and plans for online booking for recycling centres to be scrapped as it was unpopular and led to increased fly tipping?
The Council is not in a position to comment upon or speculate about the particular views or intentions of Local Authorities in Fife and Bracknell.
A comprehensive study was commissioned by DEFRA and in relation to the question or fly tipping the questions was raised: “Do LAs have any evidence that shows links between HWRC booking systems and fly-tipping?”, the findings of the extensive research carried out concluded that “The surveys and interviews with LAs have not identified any evidence showing that there was a link between fly-tipping and booking systems..”. The DEFRA study concluded that, “It appears a lot of media coverage has been generated focussing on the feelings/instinct of some local politicians and members of the public, about a linkage, sometimes because of a rise in fly-tipping (or fear of a rise), rather than any evidence of a link.” Please find attached a copy of the report.
Should you require clarification on any part of this response, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We trust this is of assistance. However, should you be unhappy with the response you may request an Internal Review by contacting [Ards and North Down Borough Council request email]. Please note that requests for Internal Reviews must be submitted within two months from the date of this response. Further information on the Internal Review process is available on the Council’s website. In the event you are unhappy with the outcome of any Internal Review conducted by Council you may apply to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for a review of our response. Please note that the ICO generally expects Internal Reviews to be completed prior to reviewing the decisions of public bodies.
Regards,
FOI Team
Ards and North Down Borough Council
City Hall
The Castle
Bangor
BT20 4BT
Tel: 0300 013 3333
Dear FOI,
Could you please kindly provide a complete answer to question 3, the project cost of running all the recycling centres after implementation of the booking system?
Your answer to Question 4 seems nebulous. The booking system was passed not by the Council but by the environmental committee, there was no public consultation carried out before its introduction, this could lead to it being challenged by Judicial Review.
Question 5. I am not aware of any survey of residents that was carried out of residents. Data security is in fact now a major problem with so many data breaches occurring in public and private bodies. It should not be necessary to provide personal data to access the local facility.
Question 6 your response does not make sense as many elderly residents in my neighbourhood have no web access or mobile phones, they were not aware a booking system was being introduced.
Your response to question 7 needs correction. In GB there are now calls to scrap online booking for recycling centres, eg Bracknell, Berkshire, Fife, Abderdeen, Essex, Warwich Councils have all had petitions by local residents calling for it to be scrapped. Local press here reports a petition of over 4000 residents wants it scrapped in Ards & North Down.
Yours sincerely,
Des O'Malley
Dear FOI,
Regarding your response to question 6. I have a problem with this. You cite the findings of a survey carried out by DEFRA in England. The findings of the Defra survey cannot be extrapolated to Ards & North Down and Northern Ireland, where fewer elderly residents have internet access. To be correct you would need to have carried out a local survey of Ards & North Down residents prior to implementation of the booking system, you would also have to carry out an impact assessment and an equality survey of residents. Can you explain why this was not carried out?
Yours sincerely,
Des O'Malley
Dear Mr O'Malley,
Thank you for your email dated 29 September 2023 to Ards and North Down Borough Council.
Regarding the response to Question 3, the Council's Waste and Cleansing Service had advised the FOI Team that the projected annual cost is due to be completed in the estimates process for the 2024/25 financial year which begins in mid-October 2023. However, the Council does hold a Business Case, WM01 Household Recycling Centres (HRC) Service Model Review. Please find attached a copy of the Business Case with personal data redacted. Please note that personal data has been redacted in accordance with section 40(3A)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 on the basis disclosure would contravene the first data protection principle of lawful, fair and transparent processing. We apologise that this was not included as part of the original response.
Your comments in relation to Questions 4 - 7 (inclusive) sit outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and your comments will be passed to the Council's Environment Director and Waste & Cleansing Service for their consideration.
Regards,
FOI Team
Ards and North Down Borough Council
City Hall
The Castle
Bangor
BT20 4BT
Tel: 0300 013 3333
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