Dirty toilets in £15 million Burgh Hall council offices are no April Fool joke
Cllr Jim Bollan, Municipal Buildings and Burgh Hall in Dumbarton.
EXCLUSIVE by Bill Heaney
Pass the sick bag, Mr Provost. There is nothing more disgusting than a dirty toilet.
Nor is there anything more stupid than taking something valuable and neglecting it by failing to keep it clean.
Dirt breeds disease and decay and infection, and failure to deal with it leaves people vulnerable to illness.
That is why it is incredible – well, not really when you think about it – that complaints are already flushing in about dirty toilets in the newly refurbished, £15 million Burgh Hall in Church Street, Dumbarton.
What’s the first thing a parent tells a child when she buys it something new – “Now, keep that clean.”
Why then has the Council introduced a cheapskate cleaning programme for the Burgh Hall?
And why, when there are already complaints about cleanliness or the lack of it in the loos there and elsewhere, are they preparing to introduce a similar regime at the newly refurbished and renovated Municipal Buildings?
An even stranger edict from the elected SNP administration is being introduced on Monday, April 1.
I take it they have had this approved and it is not an initiative taken by the officials without consultation with the members?
This may look laughable on paper, but this poo in the loo story it is no April Fool joke.
Councillors have been informed today by George Hawthorn, Manager of Democratic and Registration Services (quite a title that for the person in charge of the lavatories), about these “efficiency measures”.
He told them: “As part of the Council’s efficiency measures, Facilities Management has been rolling out a new office cleaning model at many Council premises over the last year.
“This new model is being introduced in the Municipal Buildings on Monday, 1 April, 2019, and as a result the building will be cleaned fully one day per week (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Fridays) with a second weekly visit to clean toilets only (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesdays).
“The new model will mean that bins will be emptied by FM staff only once per week.
“Elected Members and staff are therefore asked to help by taking rubbish, recycling and food waste bags to external bins if and when this is required between the weekly Friday cleans.”
Any complaints about the standard of cleaning should be reported to Christine McCaffary, a secretary in the Chief Executive’s Office, who will record and pass these to Facilities Management, states the internal memo.
In a message which I gather a significant number of council employees think stinks, it adds: “Your co-operation is appreciated and hopefully everyone can do their bit and share the load in order to help keep the building free of rubbish.
“Finally, facilities management will no longer open this building on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Access to the building on Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 April will be from 7.30 a.m. to allow time to have keys in place and to brief everyone who wishes to know the opening procedure. Thereafter the building will be opened by the first member to staff entering their workplace.”
First up, first in opens the doors then. I don’t know if this is the drill at the Burgh Hall but the early riser may have some difficulty since I heard on Wednesday that the front door there hasn’t been working properly since the day and hour the place opened.
Councillor Jim Bollan says he has already had complaints about the state of the toilets in the Burgh Hall.
He told The Democrat: “I am not happy at all with this reduced cleaning service at the Municipal Buildings.
“The same reduced cleaning programme has been implemented at 16 Church Street and I have in the last few days registered a formal complaint with Mrs Wilson.
“I have been contacted by a member of the public and some staff who have complained that the offices are not clean nor are the toilets.
“Another linked issue is that school cleaning staff from a local school are being diverted from their normal duties on a Wednesday evening to clean at 16 Church Street, to the detriment of their regular place of work in the school buildings.
“I have also asked for a questionnaire to be circulated to all staff at 16 Church Street seeking their views on the cleaning frequency at the new flagship building at 16 Church Street and whether they consider this to be adequate to keep the workplace safe for themselves and the public.”
West Dunbartonshire Council officials nor the SNP administration refuse to discuss this or any other matter with The Democrat.