A council in Essex that had its operator licence revoked for failing to recruit a transport manager said it was relying on extra trucks and staff to try and clear residents’ waste after it was granted interim authority.

Uttlesford district council previously said it was “highly regrettable” that the administrative oversight occurred and it was doing all it could to resolve the situation.

In a recent update, the council said the office of the traffic commissioner granted it an interim licence on 7 February, enabling it to commence waste collections for around 90,000 residents.

It added that it cannot provide council tax refunds to enraged locals: “We fully appreciate how frustrated and upset residents are by the disruption and we apologise again for this breakdown of waste collection over the last couple of weeks,” the council said.

“Our regular crews and vehicles are back out this week and we are aiming to visit all parts of the district on their normal days, although collections will be a little slower than usual due to the extra recycling that will be left out for collection.

“The funding for our waste collection services comes from the council tax that residents pay but also from other sources of income such as government grants and business rates.

“Only about 8p in every £1 of council tax we collect from residents comes to Uttlesford district council. 92% of council tax goes to Essex County Council, the police, the fire service and local parish or town councils.

“On average, a week of waste collection services costs each household 50p.”

The office of the TC told Motor Transport the council was given a period of grace to appoint a new transport manager when the previous one resigned.

However, the deadline passed without a replacement being nominated and so the TC’s office was required by law to revoke the licence.

 

 

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