SERVICES provided by council environmental departments in the region have shown steady improvement in recent years, a new report reveals.
Recycling of household waste has doubled in the past five years, while there have also been improvements in street cleaning, lighting, pedestrian crossing facilities for people with disabilities, and inspections of high-risk food premises.
At the same time, performance has declined slightly in services such as bin collection, planning application decisions and provision of public conveniences.
When it comes to recycling waste, York City Council is the best in the region with 25 per cent of its rubbish being recycled. Sedgefield and Chester-le-Street are below five per cent.
Newcastle City Council has over two per cent of its lights not working, while in Middlesbrough under one per cent do not work. The national average is 1.1 per cent
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