Transcript

Who wrote that?

Not me.

Can you hear me?

All right.

To this.

Thank you.

Cheers.

OK, Then we’re just going to give you a bit of a small view to say who we are and where we’re from.

Hopefully the OK thank you.

In 2020, we, we we’ve offered a free service for April from April to November for quite a while now from at least 2014, collecting over 20,000 tonnes of of green waste with eight vehicles 8 and A and a small, small vehicle with no access.

It’s brought in.

We’re looking to have a transfer station in our in our depot where I’m the TCO for the, the white agency that looks after transfer station as well.

And then it’s bought toil out to open air window.

So there’s no food waste, it’s just purely green waste.

In 2020 we again take took the option of fully chargeable green waste to the cabinet and full council.

And again we just changed it out to the PowerPoint.

It was just just thrown out again.

Well, the cabinet member at the time said, what about if you do a bit of a, you know, bespoke service?

They’ve got the 16 collections.

They’ve got a bit of a gap for November, December, then again in January, February.

Can we do an option where people will sort of pay for three or six collections?

So we did it and it was, we had the old customer relations manager system.

So payment was taken.

We went out on, on, off social media to advertise it.

Paint was taken through a the call centre, but we had wide space.

We had wide space for a while running the domestic collections of commercial.

But because we hadn’t got integration at that point of wide space, we didn’t know how to take up each, each address that subscribe was manually inputted as a new collection within wide space.

So by the technical assistance.

So in in when we tried it, we had one, we had only 1165 residents that paid 30 LB sorry, 2015 LB a point for just three collections towards towards the Christmas.

It was sort of successful.

You know, we, we only put one crew out because of 1000 properties wasn’t a lot.

We just had one crew out.

So then we decided to have 6 LB collection, so we increased to 30 lbs.

So it was three at the end of the season, the three at the start of the free season.

Again, that was pretty successful.

That went up to 2002 thousand subscribers.

Not a drama, but enough to one truck to cope.

Apartment had more affluent areas where we had to put two out.

So the pay collections continued.

And then with these 2000 subscribers, we thought we need some sort of permit system.

So we started to work with Permiserve.

And again, as people said or the people said during this, this session, it was a flawless integration for those 2000 subscribers.

Permits were landing five to seven days after we they were signing up.

So because of that, and obviously the money’s tight, the edit service took us into doing something in the the main building, the edit service.

Do you think we get fully chargeable up and running by April the 1st?

This was December 23.

We get fully chargeable up running by April the 1st, 2024.

We thought, well, that was pretty easy.

Of course you can like, you know what I mean?

So we said yeah, we can.

So that went back to the councillors.

He was sort of approved in principle but not confirmed.

So what we did after that, there we are.

Sorry, it was approved in principle.

So we, we got a, a working group together as again, like it’s been highly recommended through some of the other speakers, which we’ll go more on training, but it’s, I think we got that all set up.

And the 4th of March 2024 was a full cabinet meeting for the, for the, the, the, the budget and they approved it on the 4th of March.

So on the 5th of March we went live with the first collections with sorry, with the first payments because we’d all done stuff behind the scenes.

There was a risk in all that work that it would become portive, but there was a strong sense that this time it would get full approval.

So and, and luckily it did.

So we couldn’t put nothing into the public domain at that point because it hadn’t been fully decided.

Or although when we did say, when we sort of was looking at the idea that you get into the press.

So it was just a bit of a, you know, do the council kids have been charging and you got a bit of backlash off that.

So the the people sort of guess it might happen and then it did so on the 4th of March when it got approved on the evening the 5th of March we sort of full on the evening of the 4th we just let all the social media stuff go out that all went out.

We got all pre planned and we got a schedule of when to release it, how many times or what time of the day and that sort of stuff.

So on the 5th of March, we the subscription service paid went live at 8:30 and payments just started to be taken online and by people on mobile phone.

So as as subscription started to come in round to being populated, but due to the pre-existing 6 collections we were running through white space.

We’d already got rounds set up within the white space system.

And because the short time frame it wasn’t long enough for white space to run a data load for for any new new rounds.

So we have to use the existing round areas.

We have to run a well white space run a script to end green wise collections on the 4th of March.

So for the remainder of that month or until the 1st of April we have to go back to the old paper.

We took off the round sheets and gave paper copies round sheets for those.

2000 wasn’t a drive because it was fine.

So we so that all went fine.

The 1st of April 2024 was the day of the collections, first collections because the the Greenway was set to start then we didn’t know whether the rounds were going to fall onto the devices until overnight.

So we luckily 4:30 in the morning when you woke up worrying, it looked on the logged on and the rounds are all populated and it was all, all Loveless.

That was one drama.

So we went into the into the office, met with the team, met the drivers again, just to remind them it’s all go, everything’s happening and just remind them what they need and the information they put in is pivotal to what the information we get out from the other end.

So, so because of that, like I mentioned earlier, so that was a journey where we went from zero to three C collections, then fully chargeable.

But as I, as I mentioned, we have to get a lot of external stakeholders and internal, which we hadn’t done before when we did the roll out for the wheelie beans.

It was just just waste really back in 2013.

But then we got other people involved.

There’s like, like that’s what they do, It’s waste, get away, you know what I mean?

But but the me that was pivotal.

So we had obviously Dudley Council plus is our call centre.

We’ve got to get those on board along with our communication, public affairs, our front digital front doors, which is Becky’s manages obviously our sales, waste management and per reserve going from a 2000 subscribers up to the full unchargeable.

So we didn’t know how many we were going to get.

So we just estimated and of course we continue to be wide space.

We’ve cuts to the large amount of numbers we had to get an integration between white space and permit service.

A lot of permits had been done automatically.

We couldn’t do and enter not you know, 4050 sixty thousand.

So to other stakeholders.

We we ensure that we’re ready to launch immediately follow council pre al so we’ve done all the behind the scenes work could have been aborted.

It wasn’t.

So luckily we took the gamble and everything was going into place, the the incap devices, the permits ready to come.

The only issue with the perm, not an issue that sounds bad.

The only permits because we weren’t going to get this until the 4th of March.

We spoke with permitser prior to that.

We got the artwork and all the letters and everything.

We got all that approved, ready to go.

Permitser were happy with it.

We were happy with it.

But obviously they’re going to order thirty, 4050 thousand larger stationary until we’ve got the approval.

So as soon as you got the approval, they ordered what they need to order and away we went.

And in the interim, in the meantime, meetings were arranged between Permi Surf and White Space to do what they need to do with the APIs and all that sort of technical stuff.

But that was fine.

In the end we didn’t issue calendars at all, which we usually do.

So usually when the Greenway season comes to an end, we generally use the Greenway staff to issue around posting collection calendars to tell them about the Greenway season for the following year and the the, the Christmas collections because obviously too much you want to start.

So I think around November.

So when we had the permit, we had AQR code which I clicked on that took them to they’re more Dudley logged on and as they populated the the the refuse of the recycling’s already there.

But as they ordered the service, they’re green.

It just populates.

I don’t know.

I was going to say you have not subscribed soon as I subscribed within a second, it would appear of their collection and it just followed the normal pattern what we did previously.

So no weekly change for the residents.

It’s still alternated with their recycling.

The only issue because we use the because we used existing rounds, what was some crossover.

So white space was I was subscribing.

It was going to white space because in the past two rounds mate had done that large streak.

It wasn’t it wouldn’t decide.

We had to manually assign it.

That’s something we know for next year.

You know, we just start, we’ve got more time to do.

We can start afresh and build brand new rounds.

We FAQ was the the Dudley Council plus the customers facing teams ready to answer queries.

We’ve developed a long list of FAQs and we did look at other councils because he’s agreed Beans agreement agreed.

And we did look and we thought, we thought we sort of put the lot together, looked at FAQs, got those signed and and passed off.

And again with terms and conditions, we got all those done so they were available on the website when they logged onto their account.

And also the FAQs were given to Dudley Council Plus and as if we had questions come in that we hadn’t got any FAQ, but there was a lot of the same type of question.

We just kept updating the FAQ had been going along.

We didn’t really or we regarded promotion.

All we did was social media.

We didn’t go, we didn’t there was a thing around can we issue to every household, but it was costly.

So we just used the freeze channels at the moment with our social media accounts and then it seemed to work.

We got a few issues, the quality impact assessment.

We’ve got a few issues of people that are saying, well, you know, I, I don’t access the Internet, I haven’t got the Internet.

So there was a thought of we’ve got like poster sites around the board advertising different shows and stuff.

Do we put them on there?

But then descriptions just kept going up and up and up and more people were subscribing.

So we just held off for a bit and that sort of died down and then and more people helping other.

He was like such a trusted friend or a, a family member and they were signed on for them.

So that’s me.

That’s the operations bit.

I don’t know after the back, you know, for the complicated bit.

So now I’m going to bring you on to technology and how we facilitated this change for Jason and his service area.

So I’m just going to do some little clicking, so bear with me.

So our previous service was quite limited and involved a lot of manual intervention.

So we scoped with the service area and the working Group A new process using our new My Dudley platform, which was which launched in November 2023.

And residents were invited to sign up for the new service online through the Mydudley platform or by calling our customer service hub.

We built an integrated process for payments and for integrated services for Permiserv and Whitespace, which then delivered the online subscription for our residents.

So now I’m going to play you another little video.

Sorry if it’s a bit loud.

OK, So what we did was we went to all the councils, we had a log through finance site, gave us an income budget and we set it to 39,850.

And as you can see then year 246 thousand and year 350-3000.

But their pay to do resolution.

Dudley, when when I say day 2, that was April the 2nd.

That wasn’t like March the 6th sort of thing.

That was like the first the second day after it had gone collections live, we got 46,489.

So week by week four, we surpassed what we thought we were going to get in year in year three and 11th of the 6th 67,000.

We just checked today and I think there’s 69,800 and something close to 70,000, but we’re getting to sign up around about 800 a week still, but that’s still getting them.

OK.

So that brings me on to our star rating through our My Dudley platform.

So it’s really important to to note that the 4.2 out of the five was nothing to do with the process.

It was to do with residents unhappy with having to pay for the service.

What we did with the, the, the free versus chargeable.

We’ve got a, we had 80% purchase online, 20% via the, the telephone and, and the customer support and customer contact centre.

So we’ve now got 54% of the borough within three months.

We, we just worked out an average tonnage and how Greenway tonnage can change and like residual there’s pretty much pothos, Greenway tonnages change depending on on the weather and the you know.

So in, in April, we were collecting 71% of the tonnage we collected back in April it was free and in May we collected 8% of the tonnage we collected back when it was free.

So that the numbers were still climbing.

But and it’s been mentioned earlier, the contamination levels just dropped noticeably.

I mean we’d go, we’d send out to an open air window and we’d get a, a bit of a, a warning off the, the processor, the contamination levels and creeping up sort of thing, but nothing at all.

And then we’d have to employ, let’s say a couple of anxial additive to picking, going through the greenways and taking all the stuff out.

So, but none of that instructed in the green bar and it’s just good quality green mice material.

At the moment.

The the Misbeam reports it does show a peak and yes, and these are refuse and green, but I think the Green’s sort of fuelling it’s because where the peak is where we started.

But what happened was because of the short time frame, we hadn’t got time to the permits, hadn’t got time to arrive prior to the season to the collection starting.

So people reason for actually buying the service when they consider the lorry down the street so they can expect you’ve been delivered.

So they were coming out with the the phones saying look up our pages.

We referenced some of that and the crews, some of the crews were trying to help out.

But we realised that would just take so long.

Now they’ve been helpful, but it was just taking so much time.

So we just said stick to their FAQs.

If it’s not on the tablet, don’t empty to the FAQ said give it you know 24 to four dead hours before after subscribing before infection takes place.

But once the permits drop once the purpose of dropping once we caught up with ourselves for the late start.

Once the permits were dropping, we told the the crew just go with what the permits are there and then the complaints started.

As you can see, the complaint started to drop and again, use the the drivers using the devices.

I said you must forbid goes in the back or there’s, but you must put it on the device because you’ll have multiple arguments when they get back and you have got a luckily, because we typically mouse in the depot in in a transfer station.

If the shovel driver knows any green beans drug at the lorry, you just drag them out and looks at the address on the thing.

So we can, it’s a bit of an old fashion, bit of a, you know, but he, he works and then he stops arguing.

And the, with the duplicate copies, as mentioned, the we have got people photocopying, got people duct taping into the bins.

But if, if a customer buys a permit, if you’ve got, if I’ve got already got two bins and I want to buy 2 permits, it could be the same subscription number.

But if I want to buy one, then the, the neighbours bin and a bit like something, well, I’ll buy another permit that’s a different subscription number or the number on the bar on the QR code is slightly different.

So I just want to check in and some of our eagle eye drivers all see there’s a like a laminated permit we’re just stuck on with tape and we do investigate and and check.

We haven’t had many of those to be fair.

But like the chap said earlier, there’s some skilful printing people out there that spend more on getting it designed than actually buying the, the, the, the permit.

So it was the cost was 36 lbs for the the 12 months and that’s fifty weeks, 25 collections, 36 LB, one fee if you’re going halfway through the season, that’s it.

It’s just 36 lbs.

Regarding lessons learnt, we originally planned for six crews.

We used to have eight.

I thought we planned it for six and I think one of the previous ones said don’t assume vehicles are going to drop because they don’t.

So it certainly became a pad that we need to increase to 8 crews.

So the weather’s perfect growing weather just started this season like the sun, the rain, the sun, the rain.

So everything was was growing.

So we had to we’ve had to put out crews out.

And also when permits started to appear on beans in streets, it was like a bit of self advertising people like it’s never going to happen to us, but they’ll never charge.

And then some permits are did appearing and then more and more people subscribing the.

Comms plan we got, we did get criticised for that, but not for the communications section.

It’s the fact that we hadn’t got much time to do it.

We couldn’t go to the public domain until the official decision was made.

So then when we did that, we did get a few, you know, why, why was it on?

Why is it only limited to online people and that sort of stuff.

But we got longer now.

So we’ll know, we’ll have a more leaning time for the for the comms.

And we got a short limited time with workspace, with white space.

We had to sort of use old rounds for to build new rounds, which worked.

Just a lot of manually input in a manual moving around to all kinds of stuff.

Those that know white space, we did that.

The only issue we did have, because we’re using an existing round set was if a customer brought two bins, it wouldn’t show on white space.

We had to manually input that.

So that got a bit of arguing out, a bit of arguing of the public out there.

I’ve got two permits to show one on this here.

So we’re looking at that, we’re doing that manually now, but that’s something going forward we’ll look at when we you know, look at it and how work in the white space.

OK.

OK.

So lessons learnt.

We’ve already heard about different authorities talk about resource.

When we have a a longer leap in time for our next subscription service, we will ensure that our call centre and our customer service order thought to support that.

Again, we’re going to we’ll make the service earlier.

So we’re aiming to go out in January 2025, Jason.

Yeah, we like I mentioned earlier, we plan to to from 8 trucks to six trucks and we just plan to hire in more and more as the service grew.

But it just grows exponentially rather quick to have to get more trucks in quicker than we thought and also making sure we weren’t reaching our spending controls.

So but we have blocked.

So we use analytics now with based on white space and everything to work out where the populated areas are.

Maybe we can move trucks and change days around.

So again, Jason’s already referred to how the team is using incap devices.

So with the implementation of the new process, we removed all manual print outs of grounds and everything is banished on the incap devices and net up lifts, which moves me on to the next lessons learned payments.

So we are reviewing about direct debits, but after hearing your details about today, I’ll be taking that back.

We’ve also been asked to give you 3 monthly installments and splitting that over three monthly payments.

Again, I’ll be taking feedback back to the office technology as with any other any new process.

We did experience some significant, significant issues with duplicate payments and that was due to our payment provider Civica on in Recon.

It was just totally overwhelmed.

So we are waiting in the grade and we couldn’t testing that.

So when we rolled out for the 252025 subscription issues should hopefully be resolved.

And again, resident feedback overall very, very positive.

The only issue that I had was about having to pay for a service that was previously free.

Thank you.