Published on:
02
August 2007
Clackmannanshire's streets continue get cleaner, according to the latest statistics.
In the most recent results of the Local Environmental Audit Management System (LEAMS), Clackmannanshire Council has achieved an annual cleanliness index score of 71 which is a big improvement on the 67 score achieved in 2005/06.
The LEAMS survey is part of independent monitoring of street cleanliness by Keep Scotland Beautiful which covers all 32 Scottish local authority areas. The survey measures the prevalence of litter across Clackmannanshire.
Clackmannanshire Council spends over £1million a year on cleaning services which include street cleaning, graffiti removal and litter collection.
As part of LEAMS, a random sample of streets are inspected every two months. The results are split into four categories:
- A - Streets which are free of litter
- B - Streets with not much litter apart from a few small items
- C - Streets with quite a lot of litter and small build-ups
- D - Streets with a lot of litter and big build-ups
Clackmannanshire had no D-standard streets in 2006/07. Any streets which do not reach A-standard must be cleaned within a strict time-frame.
These results are then sent to Keep Scotland Beautiful who work out the annual cleanliness index.
Councillor Eddie Carrick, Sustainability Portfolio Holder said, "This is great news. After a disappointing result in 2005/06, it's very encouraging to see how quickly we've turned our score around.
"It has taken a lot of hard work to achieve this score and, while we still have more improvements to make, I'm delighted that the streets of Clackmannanshire are getting cleaner all the time.
"Unfortunately, we do still have to spend a lot of money every year picking up litter that members of the public have dropped - it's worth remembering that if people dropped less litter, some of this money could be put to better use."
The LEAMS survey enables local authorities to measure their performance against their targets and adjust their cleansing regimes if necessary. Since 2005/06, Clackmannanshire Council has made several changes to its service.
In particular, a dedicated street care service has been formed within Land Services. This has provided a more integrated and better focussed service which maximises productivity through better use of the Council's resources.
Maps showing the street cleaning standards are displayed in the reception areas of the Council's main buildings. For further information call ELSA on
0500 545540.
Ends
Notes to editors
- In July 2005, the Council bought a state-of-the-art chewing gum busting machine to help clean up the county's streets, at a cost of £7000.
- Previous LEAM results for Clackmannanshire
2004-05 = 70
2005-06 = 67
2006-07 = 71