A multi-team approach to APSE success - Eastleigh Borough Council

Having scooped Overall Council of the Year at the APSE Service Awards 2022, Cllr Keith House, Leader of Eastleigh Borough Council, reveals the secrets to the Council’s success. 

Eastleigh Borough Council’s frontline teams are committed to a culture of continuous improvement.

This is embodied by the Neighbourhood Services team’s stated commitment “to providing local services that are consistent with the Council’s corporate strategy and objectives, and which deliver a real improvement in the quality of the environment.”

This approach is paying dividends in the authority’s consistent success in APSE’s Performance Network Awards since 2011, culminating in the accolade of Overall Council of the Year in 2022. 

Winning the overall award is testament to focused, strategic working across the authority, which has now gone beyond the Neighbourhood Services and StreetScene operations to encompass multi-departmental working on a range of projects, including several that were included in the Council’s submissions to this year’s APSE awards. These are: a major programme of tree planting; the transition towards zero emission vehicles and machinery, and hosting almost 300 Afghan refugees, in partnership with governmental and third sector agencies, as well as the private sector.

Transforming the StreetScene operation

Eastleigh’s most consistent presence in the APSE awards has been for its StreetScene operation, which secured its 11th consecutive award as best overall performer in 2021 (when the team were also voted best overall performer for parks and open spaces for the fourth year running). 

The ongoing implementation of a service review of the StreetScene function has achieved three clear aims: better coordination of tasks leading to a more consistently clean environment and increased resident satisfaction; better skilled and more motivated staff who take a real pride in the area under their responsibility, and the delivery of a range of efficiencies. These have been achieved by improved coordination of services; better use of resources; more appropriate vehicles and plant with a reduction in fuel costs; upskilling of staff and more efficient and balanced scheduling, reducing overtime and vehicle costs.

A culture of empowerment was introduced with efficiency savings redirected into staff development. Team members were given responsibility for their own individual area of the Borough. Greater engagement with customers – the Borough’s residents – improved relationships with street cleansing staff and frequent surveys gauged satisfaction levels, with results fed into the service improvement cycle. 

Afghan refugee response

In August 2022 we passed the one-year anniversary of the arrival in Eastleigh Borough – at extremely short notice - of the first evacuees from Afghanistan. It was the beginning of a very steep learning curve for the multi-agency team as hosts of one of the first ten bridging venues in the country. 

The Council and hotel team worked with the British Red Cross, the Home Office and a range of local partners to meet every need. Immediate and key priorities included: ensuring health support was provided in the hotel, helping residents apply for benefits, and sourcing school places. The Council’s Communications Team produced a welcome pack which was translated into the two main languages spoken by the new arrival.

A key legacy of this project is that the connections we have built up will allow us to support our:

• Local community for years to come. Families at the hotel are being supported to secure their own
• Private rented accommodation and all school-age children now have school places. 
• A year on and Eastleigh is now the principal host for Afghan evacuees in the region and Eastleigh’s response has since been held up as an example of best practice.

Aiming for zero emissions vehicles

As part of its commitment to a zero carbon Council and Borough, Neighbourhood Services have been exploring a range of approaches to reducing emissions during operations. 

The Transport and Fleet Maintenance team had initial trepidations about the planned move to zero emissions vehicles. This involved the purchase and introduction of six new electric-powered vehicles, changing small equipment tools to electric and reducing vehicle fleet emissions by trialling the use of HVO. Two years on from conducting trials and carrying out training for staff, there is a clear recognition of the benefits for the global environment, but also for employees whose working conditions have been improved. 

The Council now have an active staff group looking at how we can use refurbished or reuse fleet parts, rather than buying brand new, saving on raw materials in the production of new parts, and delivering savings in the cost of replacement parts. Work is also under way to look at extending the life of an RCV from 10 years to 16 years with the option to refurbish the vehicles after eight years.    

Plant Eastleigh

The Council’s commitment to plant 160,000 new trees by 2030 is a stretching target. The Neighbourhood Services team set up a staff work group to identify not only how we could achieve this target in a sustainable way, whilst engaging residents and delivering the Council’s climate and environmental commitments.

The traditional procurement route through the use of external tree nurseries was considered, but the group quickly established that an alternative and local procurement option was for the Council to establish its own tree nursery, enabling it to grow targeted species locally from seeds or cuttings, using our own staff and avoiding transportation costs and negative environmental impact. It also provided the opportunity to create new jobs and avoid the need for time-intensive procurement arrangements.

A three-hectare area of land was identified on the Council’s sustainable One Horton Heath housing development, where the nursery could set up and grow all of the trees required to meet the Council’s commitment over the ten-year period. Regular Plant Eastleigh sessions are arranged where residents and businesses can plant a tree they have sponsored.

This Girl Can Eastleigh

As part of its strategy to create healthy communities, the Council’s SportWorks and HealthWorks teams have increased female activity levels by running a year-long physical activity campaign, This Girl Can Eastleigh. 

The Covid pandemic saw activity levels for both men and women fall and, according to research, female activity levels have remained consistently lower. Currently 20% of women in the Borough do little to no physical activity.

The campaign aimed to continue to reduce this figure by empowering women to improve their wellbeing and feel confident to participate in physical activity. The message from the fun, motivating and informal approach of This Girl Can Eastleigh is “However, you jiggle, kick, lift, stretch, or sprint, it’s time to get moving in a way that suits you.”

We believe that what makes the real difference is the relationship between Councillors and staff;  it is one of co-production, a clear strategy and commitment from Councillors to empower and support staff in delivering real change that makes a difference for our communities – and, of course, our staff without whom we wouldn’t have been named Council of the Year.

•  Local authorities can now register their interest for the APSE Annual Service Awards 2023. Click here to register.