Cabinet to consider bringing litter and street cleaning services back in-house

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will tomorrow [14 October 2026] consider a recommendation to bring non-devolved street scene services back in-house from April 2027, and to extend the council’s highways maintenance contract with Kier by a further 12 months, until April 2028.

This means services include street cleaning, litter picking, litter bin emptying, grass cutting and more would be managed by the council, with the exception of Shrewsbury, Broseley and Shifnal where street scene services have been devolved to the respective town councils.

David Vasmer, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and waste, said:

“We are committed to delivering better highways services for residents while ensuring we achieve the best possible value for money.

“It’s clear that street scene services would be better managed by the council, than through a large, outsourced highways contract. Bringing these services in-house will give us greater operational control and, importantly, improve our responsiveness to local priorities.

“At the same time we plan to extend our contract with Kier for a third year – as allowed in the contract – which would give us the time needed to further develop our mixed economy approach to highways maintenance, and to identify the most effective long-term model for the future delivery of highways services beyond 2028.

“Our focus remains on improving visible services, supporting local communities and ensuring essential highways functions continue to be delivered safely and efficiently across Shropshire.

“Kier continues to work collaboratively with the council to improve service delivery. An extension to their contract to 31 March 2028 will enable us to develop and implement any highways maintenance model in a planned manner whilst continuing to deliver essential services, especially winter maintenance.”

These changes would help to secure long-term value for money, improve local services and maintain essential front-line operations.

The council’s mixed economy approach combines services delivered directly by the council with those provided by specialist contractors.

Further information

The council’s contract with Kier began in 2018. It has changed over time but continues to successfully deliver resurfacing, surface dressing, road improvement schemes, and the safety-critical winter maintenance service.

The report to Cabinet meeting also highlights the significant challenges facing councils nationally, with rising costs, ageing infrastructure, and growing maintenance backlogs. In Shropshire, the estimated funding gap across the highway network exceeds £130 million, while pothole numbers increased substantially during recent periods of severe weather.