24 August 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal

Robotic cleaning holds “significant promise for unobstructed areas but has yet to gain a significant foothold” in the industry, says a report about local authority building cleaning services.

The State of the Market 2016 report by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) shows that only 5.5 per cent of respondents say they are using these methods in school buildings (down by 2.1 per cent since last year).

The report’s figures reveal that manual methods of cleaning are still the most prominent, although most respondents also use mechanical cleaning in a range of buildings (other municipal buildings – 66.0 per cent, school buildings – 63.6 per cent, administration buildings – 57.7 per cent, depots – 55.6 per cent, care homes and day centres – 52.6 per cent, kindergartens/pre-school buildings – 52.3 per cent).

Owing to the increased focus on value for money and productivity, 77.2 per cent of respondents are expecting reduced hours/frequency per building over the next year, 56.6 per cent are expecting to renegotiate specifications, 67.3 per cent are expecting reduced cleaning staff numbers, and 52.7 per cent are expecting reduced management numbers.

APSE conducted an online survey during April 2016 and 58 responses were received with 55.2 per cent from England, 29.3 per cent from Scotland, 12.1 per cent from Wales, and 3.4 per cent from Northern Ireland.

Of those completing the survey, 87.9 per cent were ‘in-house service providers’ of whom 62.7 per cent expect to remain as in-house providers in two years’ time. Of these, 8.6 per cent were ‘council owned, arm’s-length wholly owned companies’ and 5.2 per cent were ‘private contractors’.