Residents invited to help review how Adur & Worthing Councils prioritises staffing levels at busy times of the year
Released: Wednesday, 01 July 2026
Residents are being invited to help scrutinise Adur & Worthing Councils' staffing capacity for key services during busy times of the year like the summer holidays.
At its next public meeting, the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee (JOSC) will be looking at the councils' capacity to deliver frontline environmental services, including litter and dog waste collections, street cleansing, cleaning of public conveniences and management of parks, beaches, and open spaces when demand is at its peak.
The committee is an elected watchdog, comprising councillors from across Adur and Worthing, and is responsible for holding decision-makers - both within and outside the councils - to account.
Busy periods like the summer holidays often result in higher volumes of litter on the coastline, greater use of public toilets and more grass cutting and maintenance needed for parks and cemeteries, which inevitably places greater pressure on the councils' ability to deliver the frontline services that residents expect to see.
Cabinet members for the environment and finance and resources from both Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council will be on hand to answer questions from the committee regarding a report published ahead of the meeting, with residents invited to have their say by sending in questions to the committee, to be answered on the night.
The report sets out the staffing of key environmental services, examples of the additional pressure on service delivery during peak times, and what measures the councils adopt to minimise adverse impacts.
Current measures to reduce the impact of litter left on the coastline and in parks highlighted in the report include working with community groups to host litter-picking events, partnering with Southern Water to install 11 Big Belly solar powered compaction bins across Adur and Worthing, as well as a trial in Worthing town centre to test sensors in litter bins that send a notification when they are nearly full.
The councils also encourage residents and visitors to take their litter home and can issue penalty charges of up to £75 for littering.
To manage the pressures on public toilets the councils' launched a community toilet scheme in November 2025, making more toilets available in public buildings and local businesses and reducing pressure on council-run sites.
The report also details the strain on resources that the grass-growing season causes and potential options the councils could roll-out to mitigate the impact.
Cllr Joss Loader, the Adur chair of JOSC, said:
“As councillors, we know that public interest runs high during the summer months and is focused on the frontline services that really matter to people as they enjoy the public spaces and beaches across Adur and Worthing.
“We also know that our teams work incredibly hard - whether it's during the recent heatwave conditions or at busy community events and at weekends. We're keen to work with the councils to help ensure the best experiences and outcomes for our residents, visitors and staff.”
The meeting takes place at 6:30pm on Thursday 9th July 2026 at The Shoreham Centre, and the committee is encouraging residents to send in questions for it to consider as part of the public question time section.
Ahead of the meeting residents can read the report in full here:
Questions can then be submitted to the committee via email by midday on Monday 6th July to:
The feedback from the meeting, including any recommendations for support and improvement, will be further considered by the committee.
(PR26-054)
Page last updated: 01 July 2026