Ealing’s streets remain a total disgrace say the Liberal Democrats!

Lib Dem Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition, has been asking questions of Ealing Labour and why they are seeking to further lengthen the contract by another five years to 2030. This means that Ealing Labour will have engaged Greener Ealing Limited (GEL) for a period of at least ten years without any competition!

Councillor Gary Malcolm asked: “Given we have seen lots of issues with fly-tipping clearage, rubbish from flats above shops and street cleansing quality, why are we extending the contract so early?”

GEL is a company wholly owned by Ealing Council and employs a significant number of staff who collect rubbish, clean streets and enforce parking fines. Their remit has been expanded over the years. 

In May 2023, Ealing Labour extended the contract for the provision of environmental services between the Council and GEL for another five years from July 2025 to July 2030. This new contract extension means that the service provision across the borough remains unchanged for more than a decade!

Many residents feel that the streets are unswept and strewn with litter and have leaves rarely cleaned up. In addition, for residents who live above shops, there is a lack of clarity on waste collection arrangements with no clear separation between domestic rubbish collection, such as from flats, or commercial rubbish collection for shops and businesses. 

Councillor Athena Zissimos, Shadow Environment Spokesperson said: “Liberal Democrats know that the street sweeping has been reduced in order to save Ealing Labour money without them monitoring GEL properly. There is often confusion for domestic waste collections in flats above shops and for businesses. Ealing Labour have been in power since 2010 and they have not addressed or managed street cleaning appropriately - the evidence can be seen every day.”

Councillor Jonathan Oxley, Shadow Spokesperson for Finance, IT (including AI) said: “Ealing Liberal Democrats are sadden by this cavalier approach to another five-year contract extension with GEL. We are concerned that the current service provider (GEL), a wholly owned council company, will remain unchanged and unchallenged for more than a decade. Ealing Labour have not run a competitive procurement to see if better value for money and service provision can be secured for residents. This is both disappointing and shockingly complacent!”