TOUGHER enforcement, more signage and a review of the council’s side waste policy are among recommendations made in a wide ranging report on litter and waste service in Torfaen.

A review of Torfaen council’s environment and streetscene departments has been carried out by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) in a bid to make services more effective and efficient.

One of the recommendation is that the council’s side waste policy - relating to waste which is not placed in the correct bin or container for collection - is reviewed.

The review found there is ‘frustration’ among staff at the “increasing levels of litter that is having to be collected and fly-tipping to be cleared”.

Fly-tipping incidents in Torfaen are at a five-year high, with 1,046 incidents reported last year, up from 934.

At a meeting of the council’s cleaner communities overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday, Dave Henrys, an associate consultant at APSE, said the council has its own litter and fly-tipping strategy which is “a positive”.

But Mr Henrys told councillors there has been an increase in litter and fly-tipping incidents reported.

“There is a big frustration within the workforce that some of those are as a result of the council’s own policies on things like dealing with side waste from refuse collection,” he said.

The policy of banning side waste was made by the council to improve recycling rates and reduce residual waste.

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It means waste left alongside bins cannot be collected. Instead it is reported as fly-tipping and has to be separately collected.

But Torfaen council say most residents comply with the policy.

It says collecting side waste would reduce the borough’s recycling rate and increase costs.

At the scrutiny meeting, councillors also recommended that a decision not to have parks locked at night is reviewed.

Cllr Elizabeth Haynes said the policy has resulted in “a significant increase” in littering, flytipping and anti-social behaviour.

Cllr Haynes also called for more fines to be issued to stop fly-tipping.

She said: “I think we need a period of harsher enforcement so the public can see it’s not acceptable.”

Daniel Morelli, head of public protection at the council, said the authority has a “zero tolerance approach” on the issue.

The APSE report has also recommended a health and safety review of the facilities for streetscene staff at the Ty Blaen depot.

Health and safety concerns around traffic management, lack of lighting, security and issues with rats were raised.

“Streetscene staff feel that they are very much second-class citizens to other services that operate from the yard,” the report says.

Torfaen council has said in response to the review that facilities are being improved.

It was also recommended that a new business development officer post is created to seek commercial opportunities to bring in funding within the service.

Councillors also called for more signage in the borough to encourage people not to litter.