Redbridge Council has been named as the finalist for two top accolades in national awards recognising public service excellence.

Ilford Recorder: Project such as the Big Bulb Giveaway got the council shortlisted for Best Community & Neighbourhood Initiative award. Picture: Redbridge CouncilProject such as the Big Bulb Giveaway got the council shortlisted for Best Community & Neighbourhood Initiative award. Picture: Redbridge Council (Image: Archant)

The council has made it to the final round in the Annual Service Awards from the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), a non-profit member organisation made up of 300 councils across the country.

After the first round of judging Redbridge was announced as a finalist for its street cleansing service and community engagement work.

The street cleansing team is hoping to sweep away the competition after being shortlisted for the transformation of services in the borough.

The council has said the new ways of working saw street cleansing requests from residents decrease.

An assessment carried out in the borough by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy showed litter has reduced by 50 percent in just over a year following the changes in street cleansing.

The council’s Community Engagement team is shortlisted for the Best Community and Neighbourhood Initiative award for its project Redbridge Growing Together.

The project focuses on working collaboratively with residents on a range of environmental initiatives to create more green spaces in the borough, bring communities together and discourage antisocial behaviour such as littering and fly-tipping.

Some of the successful projects include tree and flowerbed planting and more than 40,000 spring bulbs given away to get neighbourhoods blooming for spring.

Cabinet member for civic pride Cllr John Howard said: “We’re making great strides in creating a cleaner, greener and safer borough – one that we can all be proud of, and enjoy.

“Being named as finalists for these two top awards is testament to the great work of our staff and commitment from local communities. By working in partnership, we can all play our part to improve our environment.”

Council leader Jas Athwal added: “I’m so proud of the incredible work our council staff are doing even under the most difficult circumstances. Despite the pandemic, staff have been delivering real results, cleaning up our streets and working with local people to improve our environment.”

The winners of the APSE Service Awards 2020 will be announced on Wednesday, December 16.