Litter picking, street cleaning and grass cutting leave the Kier contract for council staff by April 2027, except in Shrewsbury, Broseley and Shifnal.

Street cleaning, litter picking, emptying litter bins and grass cutting across most of Shropshire will be run directly by the council from April 2027. The work now sits inside the council’s highways contract with Kier.

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet approved the change on Wednesday 14 October. The published decision says it “approved the insourcing of the non-devolved Street Scene services by 1st April 2027”.

“Non-devolved” matters. Shrewsbury, Broseley and Shifnal already have these services run by their town councils, so the change does not apply there. That is from the council’s release before the meeting. Everywhere else, from Oswestry and Whitchurch to Ludlow and Bridgnorth, the council takes the work back.

What moves to the council

The release lists the services as including:

  • street cleaning
  • litter picking
  • emptying litter bins
  • grass cutting
  • “and more”

It does not give the full list.

Why the council is doing it

The Cabinet report says the council has concluded these services are “better aligned to direct Council management than delivery through a large, outsourced highways contract”.

It gives three reasons:

  • more control. Fewer layers of contractor and subcontractor management, and quicker decisions
  • closer working with town and parish councils and local communities
  • savings stay with the council. Any efficiencies are kept and can go back into frontline services

David Vasmer, the Cabinet member for highways and waste, said in the release that bringing the services in-house “will give us greater operational control and, importantly, improve our responsiveness to local priorities”.

The last handover went badly, and the report says so

This is not the first transfer. Over the past year, street scene work in Shrewsbury and Broseley has moved from Kier’s subcontractor to the two town councils.

The report refers to “the previous Street Scene transition 1st April 2026” and admits it brought “problems with missed bins and late grass cutting”. It says the lessons have shaped a dedicated programme for next April. That programme covers:

  • staff transfers under TUPE
  • depots, vehicles and equipment
  • systems and data
  • health and safety
  • a contingency plan if the service falters

The report says there will be “gateway reviews before transfer on 1 April 2027”. It does not say how many staff will move, what the service will cost, or whether it will save money. A commercial appendix was kept private.

What happens to Kier

Kier has held the council’s highways contract since April 2018. It now runs to 31 March 2027 after two one-year extensions.

The report says Kier should keep the work where it “performs strongly”:

  • resurfacing and surface dressing
  • bridges and structures
  • road improvement schemes
  • winter gritting

The council’s release said Cabinet would also be asked to extend the Kier contract for a third year, to 31 March 2028. That was a separate item taken in private. On 15 October the council had published no decision on it.

Cabinet also noted two other dates:

  • by 1 April 2027: a new, larger contract for pothole and defect repairs. Multevo already does this work on the C road network
  • by the end of December 2026: an options study on how highways should be run after 2028, which goes to a scrutiny committee before any decision

The money behind it

The report sets the change against the state of the county’s roads. It says:

  • the funding gap across all of Shropshire’s highway assets is more than £130 million
  • pothole numbers tripled during last winter’s wet and freezing spell
  • highways costs have risen more than 30% over the period, while the revenue budget for the Kier contract fell 24%

The report calls the result “a 55% real terms reduction in funding”. It also says an internal audit of the Kier contract has cut the number of “fundamental and significant” issues from 11 to one.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. Kier and its subcontractors keep doing this work until April 2027.
  • If you live in Shrewsbury, Broseley or Shifnal, your town council remains responsible for street cleaning and grass cutting. This decision does not affect you.
  • Everywhere else, from April 2027 the council’s own staff will do the work rather than a contractor.
  • Watch the first weeks after 1 April. The report itself admits the last handover caused missed bins and late grass cutting.

Pothole repairs this month are listed in our roadworks and travel page.