MEMBERS of Bridgend council have been updated on issues with the recruitment of seasonal staff which has led to delays in grass-cutting across the county borough.
The update came as part of an all-member briefing from the council’s cabinet member for climate change and environment Cllr Paul Davies.
This was later shared by the Bridgend County Independents group who said they had been reporting cases of grassed areas not being cut on residents’ behalf.
It comes after the authority made the decision to develop their own in-house grass-cutting service in 2024 instead of outsourcing to a private contractor as they had done since 2015.
It also came along with the transfer of more than £300,000 worth of capital funding from the authority from an existing capital project for Ravens Court offices that was no longer needed.
This was put towards the costs of getting the new rural grass-cutting service up and running with the funds largely needed for the purchase of new plant and equipment such as mowers.
The latest update said while “significant progress” had been made on bringing in equipment the recruitment of seasonal staff was challenging, leading to delays in the grass cutting schedule.
It added that the directorate would now be looking at a number of options to address the situation, which included redoubling a recruitment campaign as well as working with employment agencies and the Employability Bridgend Team.
It could also see the job description for the role adjusted in order to allow a wider pool of applicants to apply with the reallocation of staff from other areas where possible.
Additionally they could also look at the possibility of changing the roles from seasonal to permanent jobs which may be more attractive to potential employees.
The move to bring grass cutting services in-house comes alongside separate plans for bringing waste collection services in-house by April 2026.
The decision to adopt this service was made by members in November 2024 in order to allow the authority to have “more hands-on monitoring” and “sustainable flexibility”.
