THE CHALLENGE

Dudley MBC’s previous system was limited and didn’t allow the Council to effectively manage their Household Waste and Recycling Centres. It was determined that a new system was required to not only stop cross border disposals and only allow Dudley residents to book, but also prevent untaxed vehicles gaining access to the sites.

According to Mark Clinton, Waste Strategy & Disposal Manager at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, it was apparent the new system needed “bookings available in real time, with cancelled bookings returning for use” and “different levels of access for customer services, admins and site staff”. It was also essential that the new system could “produce a variety of reports”.

Furthermore, it was of paramount importance that vehicles above the height of 2 metres could be restricted from gaining access to sites with a height barrier.

THE SOLUTION

Our HWRC Booking system was introduced in October 2021. Mark believes that the procurement process was “simple with the system being on G-Cloud”.

Regarding the introduction of the system, he further explained that “tablets are used to access the system and accept vehicles by checking the vehicle registration. This has stopped queues on the way to site”. Site staff are also able to leave comments that are “picked up by admin staff and any abusive behaviour can be reported.” Mark believes that “confrontation has reduced because of the booking system”.

Another useful feature is the behind-the-scenes DVLA lookup. The form produces an error message at the point of booking if the vehicle registration entered has not been matched to a DVLA record. This therefore stops residents from making a booking if they don’t have a valid registration plate. The system also has “the ability to warn all bookers that there is an issue at the sites and delays may occur”.

Moreover, as previously noted, it was crucial for Dudley MBC to ensure that vehicles over 2 metres in height cannot access sites with height barriers. To address this, we've included a question on the form asking residents if their vehicle exceeds 2 metres in height. The form then displays the sites accordingly.

In addition to this, we also created a “blocklist”, which enabled DMBC to revoke access based on vehicle registration. Mark explained that this gave them the functionality to block “identified traders from attending the site to dispose of waste”.

The reporting dashboard has proved to be extremely valuable to the Dudley staff. Mark states the custom-made analytical reports have “allowed the Council to closely monitor waste types, frequency of visits, usage through the day/week/month and the amount of bookings attended, cancelled or no shows.”

The implementation of the HWRC Booking system has been a huge success and Mark reports continuous positive feedback from residents. One example from a google review of the recycling centre states “it’s got much better over the last few years. The guys are so much more helpful and the booking in service has eliminated long queues”.

THE FUTURE

As we move towards the future, we hope to further strengthen the relationship we have built with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council over the last few years. We are certain the flexibility of ESB will enable us to continue going above and beyond for DMBC. The flexibility of ESB can be supported by Mark who believes “the biggest flexibility was when a neighboring authority had to close its HWRC, as Pentagull were able to reconfigure the system to allow these residents access. A dedicated allocation has been set aside, the numbers of attending can be monitored and reported back to said Council”.

At Pentagull, we remain committed to consistently delivering exceptional support through our service desk. Mark explains that “requests to the Customer Support portal are actioned within 24 hours” which has “allowed changes in numbers and opening times.”