Household Waste Recycling Centre Booking System - Find a freedom of information request

Northamptonshire County Council (NCC) are in the process of doing an informal traffic management options appraisal due to our recycling centre sites becoming extremely busy again over the last 2 weeks, leading to issues with long queues and waiting times to access the HWRCs. We are aware that your authority implemented an HWRC booking system some time ago to manage the queues which formed as a knock on effect of post lockdown demand and reduced throughput from on-site social distancing measures.

Please can you complete the table below with as much information as possible about your HWRC booking system, as this will greatly assist with NCC?s traffic management options appraisal?

1. Is your HWRC booking system operated in-house or via an external provide such as Eventbrite, Zipporah etc.?

2. How long did it take to organise and implement the booking system? Would you be prepared to share any information/project plans and implementation documents?

3. Is your HWRC service operated in-house or contracted out? Did members/contractors raise any obstacles and concerns about the booking system, prior to and post implementation?

4. Were there any initial and ongoing costs involved in setting up the system? Including resourcing and management of the system dealing with queries, bookings/complaints

5. Is your booking system applicable to all your sites, or just selected ones which have been particularly busy?

6. How many booking slots are allocated per day? How did you calculate number of slots to ensure queuing on the highway Is not a concern or hazard. Has this number evolved over time?

7. Approximately what percentage of booking slots are booked but the customer does not show up to use them?

8. How effective has the system been to reduce queues outside of the HWRC sites? Do you still experience the occasional queue with members of the public turning up too early to use their booked slot or taking too long to unload their waste on site?

9. Public feedback - Has the booking system been widely accepted, or did you receive, and continue to receive many complaints? What Comms did you put out?

10. Do you spend much time administrating the booking system, i.e. releasing additional slots on line, searching for and cancelling bookings for members of the public that have tried to book multiple slots, deal with complaints, telephoning and booking slots for members of the public who do not have access to the internet?

11. Have you seen a drop in HWRC residual and recycling tonnages?

12. Have you seen an increase in kerbside tonnages and fly-tipping?

13. How long has the booking system been in place? Is it a temporary traffic solution or will you continue to use it once Coronavirus measures have been lifted?

1. In house using existing Jadu Booking System

2. Approximately one month to identify the technical software solution (JADU), develop the forms and the logic behind them, and publicise to residents

3. Service is operated by Contractors

4. All costs other than some system development costs (out of county postcode checker to restrict bookings) were contained within service budgets

5. The booking system operates over all of our 11 sites

6. Up to 400 bookings per day depending on site size, each booking slot is 15 min, reasonable time to off load materials at different locations around the site

7. 10%

8. Reduced queuing almost down to zero at all sites - it is now very rare for any queuing at all on adjacent roads

9. Booking system has been widely accepted by majority of site users. Comms referred to the introduction of the system, any additional requirements (some wastes not accepted on certain days at start) and how to book. Complaints have settled down to just a few that continue to object to its introduction and change from the previous unrestricted level of service provision, which did cause us severe queuing problems at sites.

10.As the automation of the system has improved the amount of staff administrative time has reduced. This is now about 1 hour per day to prepare the following day's booking lists for the sites.

11.Yes

12.Yes but this has at the same time as the lockdowns so we do not attribute all of this to the booking system

13.Since the HWRC sites reopened on 18 May 2020 and our current plans are that the Booking system will continue