REFUSE lorry drivers are to have their salaries increased by Teignbridge Council in a bid to address a shortage of qualified drivers.

Cllr Alistair Dewhirst told full council that residents of the district were ‘incredibly grateful to waste teams who work in all weathers and throughout the pandemic’.

He pointed out there were huge national issues with shortages of LGV drivers.

He was pleased to note that Teignbridge Council has a policy of market forces which is aimed at dealing with these situations.

He said £80,000 is available for this year and a further £240,000 for next year to pay for the increase in salaries.

While the situation will be reviewed regularly, Cllr Dewhirst said: ‘We need to pay our workforce fairly.’

Cllr Sarah Parker-Khan said: ‘I agree our teams have done a fantastic job and we should pay them fairly.’

She asked how the rise would be financed considering the current budget pressures as these were ‘significant’ costs.

The council’s finance chief Martin Flitcroft said the last budget had indicated savings of £800,000 so the next year’s budget proposals would take into account the £240,000 extra.

Cllr David Cox said: ‘It’s nice to have compliments about members of our waste team.’

He asked if the Government might be able to help out with the costs as the council’s budget had lost 60p in every £1.

The executive committee, which met earlier this month, had agreed the recommendations in a bid to solve the driver shortage which has been affecting refuse collections locally and nationally.

The council currently has 52 LGV drivers and these posts are already in receipt of a market forces supplement following historical market reviews and recruitment issues, with a salary range of £22,183 to £23,080 which is below the Devon average salary.

But there are still 11 vacancies have had minimal responses.

The last successful recruitment into an LGV role was in June 2021.

Six further roles of supervisors, chargehands and inspectors that include LGV licenses in their job descriptions are vacant.

Short term, to cope with the backlog, staff have been working most Saturdays and some Sundays.

But this relies on volunteers crews and is not sustainable while also leading to fatigue and a need to comply with driving hours rules. It was said ‘employment offerings need to remain competitive.’

Members of the executive thanked staff for ‘their hard work during these difficult times and acknowledged that the wider community appreciated the dedication of the waste and recycling teams’.

Members of full council agreed to measures to apply the council’s market forces policy to operational posts and increase drivers’ salaries.