Brighton and Hove City Council’s rubbish and recycling service is mired in violence and racist, sexist and homophobic abuse, according to an independent report.
More than 70 people gave evidence to a senior barrister who was brought in to hold an independent inquiry into serious whistleblowing allegations at Cityclean.
Today (Thursday 12 October) the council published a summary report of King’s Counsel (KC) Aileen McColgan’s findings, with a full report promised in the coming weeks.
As the scale of the problem was laid bare, council leader Bella Sankey pledged to clean up Cityclean and the bullying, aggressive and hostile culture at its Hollingdean depot.
Councillor Sankey called for an inquiry when she took political charge of the council after Labour’s local election victory in May.
She said: “I am deeply concerned by the findings in this report concerning the working culture at Cityclean.
“It paints a picture of a service mired in racism, misogyny and homophobia and where a culture of bullying, intimidation and aggression has taken hold.
“As leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, I want to apologise, on behalf of Brighton and Hove City Council, to every staff member who has been affected by these behaviours, past and present, and to residents whose service has been affected by the dysfunction that has resulted.
“Brighton and Hove City Council must be an organisation which has zero tolerance for bullying, aggression, racism, misogyny and homophobia.
“This is essential for staff to feel safe, respected and supported and for our council to deliver the high-quality services that residents deserve and expect.
“As the new council leader, the buck stops with me. I will ensure that once we’ve completed necessary legal processes, the full report and recommendations are published – and that we now take appropriate action to address the report’s findings for our staff and residents.”
Councillor Sankey added: “Every member of our valued staff has the right to work in a safe, respectful environment without the fear of harassment and intimidation.”
The council said: “More than 70 people give evidence to an independent inquiry into serious whistleblowing allegations.
“Initial findings into whistleblowing complaints about the behaviour and working culture within Cityclean, the council’s waste service, have been presented to the council’s leadership.
“The report, written by independent King’s Counsel Aileen McColgan, details a service mired in racism, sexism and homophobia where swearing, shouting and threatening behaviour have become routine, including towards managers and senior managers.
“The council takes these allegations with the most extreme seriousness and will be taking action on the findings.
“The full report is expected to be published before the end of this month but a four-page summary (was) published today.”
The report said: “A number of witnesses expressed concern about racism at the depot. I heard a number of Cityclean staff had been subject to racist name-calling by their colleagues and that a truck had been regularly defaced with racist graffiti while parked in the depot.
“One manager told me that he came into work every day with a bad taste in his mouth because he knew that he would be shouted, pointed and yelled at and people would be storming off and slamming doors.
“What should be straightforward managerial decisions on the utilisation of staff when, for example, people are off sick escalate into morning-long events with members of staff storming off and crews going out hours late.
“One manager described very personal comments having been made about her appearance. Another spoke about the very misogynistic culture at the depot which she told me she had to put up with most of the time because of the potential risks of challenging it.”
The report also said: “A number of witnesses said that much of the criticism aimed at women in senior management was related to the fact that they were women.
“One witness spoke of a culture of racism, homophobia and sexism and told me that a group of loaders (bin collectors) ‘catfished’ gay staff on Grindr.”
Catfishing is the practice of using deception to lure someone into a relationship by, for example, creating a fake online identity.
The report added: “One witness, who told me that he was gay, found himself the subject of homophobic ‘banter’ while another said that a lot of people on refuse had refused to work with him because he was gay.”
Claims have been made in the past that managers where anti-trade union but Miss McColgan said: “I found no evidence that any of the managers I spoke to were hostile to trade unions. Many, perhaps a majority, identified themselves to me as trade union members.
“I am satisfied that managers at Cityclean and elsewhere in the council have, until recently, been unable to respond appropriately to such behaviour by reason of the threat of industrial action and a (reasonably) anticipated absence of political support.
“Various decisions made at the highest level of the council in 2019 in connection with the industrial action which was threatened conveyed a message to managers at Cityclean that decisions relating to disciplinary action against certain members of staff would not be supported by the council.
“I note in this context that ‘member appeal panels’ (made up of councillors) have on occasion reinstated staff dismissed by Cityclean on grounds of gross misconduct. This message has continued to be felt at Cityclean and it is only recently that that position has begun to shift.”
Miss McColgan has made a number of recommendations to change the behaviour and working culture, including disciplinary action against some individuals.
The council’s interim chief executive Will Tuckley, who joined in May, has written to all Cityclean staff today (Thursday 12 October).
Mr Tuckley said that the necessary action would be taken to ensure the behaviour and culture at Cityclean changed for the better for all staff.
He said: “I and the senior leadership team at the council have been working very closely with the new political leadership to ensure this report is published.
“We are all determined to improve the behaviour and culture at Cityclean to make sure it’s a fair and inclusive place for everyone to work and to ensure the service we provide to our residents and businesses is the best it can be.”
To read an edited version of the summary report, click here.
What I don’t get is why they get paid so much?
Why do teaching staff get as little as £900 a month but they educate out children and care for them and keep them safe but the uneducated racist, sexist and homophobic lot that empty my bin get almost £2,400 a month or £500 a week!? Give the job to mindless robots and use that money to pay people doing real work a fair amount to live on. Save our schools and save our NHS!
It’s not pleasant work, and whilst I share your opinion that NHS workers should be paid more, this work should also be paid fairly as well.
Well done Brighton Council for taking this on
As a Brighton Resident and brother of a former member of staff at the depot the behaviour of a certain union the GMB is appaling, he has seen people beaten up and others including their families threatened, “we know where you live” comments by certain people with TU responsibilities was common; which is why my brother could not stay there any longer.
I hope all unions can learn from this and make the GMB realise this is the 21st century and this i’m all right jack behaviour is not acceptable. I hope the TUC can step in and do something.
Looks like this is more a case of revenge from Labour than any actual caring about the behaviour. A friend of mine worked at the depot and said this was all well known in 2019 but Labour were taking lots of money from the GMB for election campaigns so let it continue and protected the bullies. This year the GMB stopped giving them money because Labour selected Warren Morgan as a candidate and now Labour pretend to care….
What a damning report.
Well, I’m sure that Labour will be treading very carefully with this – not only as the GMB are their paymasters, but also many local councillors are GMB members.
The unions sense that if they continue with their disruption, Starmer will give in to them next year, and we will get train drivers working part-time for £120k per year.