Charnwood Borough Council

The Borough Council has a legal duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, to act as the Litter Authority for Charnwood. This responsibility includes street cleaning, litter collection, the removal of detritus, fly-posting, graffiti and fly-tipping on public land which is maintained by the Council.

The Council collects litter and refuse (including fly-tipping) via a Contract, which was let to Serco in August 2009, and will run until 31st March 2017.

This Contract is based on the requirements set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse 2006, including types of land, zoning, response times and responsibilities of authorities to maintain cleanliness standards.

The street cleaning element of the contract is output based, rather than the frequency based contract which operated prior to 1st August 2009. This means that areas under Charnwood Borough Council's responsibility are now cleaned to meet and maintain a required standard, rather than areas being cleaned to a set frequency.

Accurate and systematic monitoring of street cleanliness is taking place to enable Charnwood Borough Council to identify when and where litter problems are likely to occur, and put procedures in place to maintain acceptable standards.

Grades of Cleanliness

The graded standards shown below are used to monitor the cleanliness of areas.

For litter and refuse:

For detritus (mud, soil, grit etc):

Litter and Refuse
Grade A No litter or refuse	Grade B Predominantly free of litter and refuse apart from some small items	Grade C Widespread distribution of litter and/or refuse with minor accumulations	Grade D Heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant accumulations
Litter and refuse in a soft surface setting
Grade A No Litter or Refuse	Grade B Predominantly free of litter and refuse apart from some small items	Grade C Widespread distribution of litter and/or refuse with minor accumulations	Grade D Heavily affected by litter and/or refuse with significant accumulations
Detritus
Grade A No detritus	Grade B Predominantly free of detritus except for some light scattering	Grade C Widespread distribution of detritus with minor accumulations	Grade D Heavily affected by detritus with significant accumulations

Zones and Response Times

All areas maintained by Charnwood Borough Council have been classified into one of four main land zones, which are set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. If a site falls to a grade C or D for either litter and refuse, or detritus, it is deemed to be unacceptable, and should be rectified within the set response times as laid out below:

Reporting and Resolving Problems

Should you find that a street or green space under Charnwood Borough Council's responsibility is not cleaned to the standards set out above, please report the problem by contacting us by email; cleaner.greener@charnwood.gov.uk or; telephone 01509 634563