14.01.15
Have government plans for weekly bin collections been rubbished?
The government’s plans to restore weekly bin collections have suffered a knockback, with the only council taking part in its £250m scheme reversing its decision.
The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, had set aside the fund to allow local authorities to run weekly services rather than fortnightly. In 2012, the DCLG awarded Stoke-on-Trent City Council £14.3m to run weekly bin collections for a minimum of five years.
However, council officials have said that the plan is too expensive, and falls foul of a new EU waste directive. Andy Platt, of Stoke council, said a series of ‘massive budget cuts’ meant the government cash would not cover the cost of weekly collections.
Following the announcement, Labour’s spokesman on communities and local government, Hilary Benn, and local government minister Kris Hopkins had a spat about who was to blame.
But what is certain is that the fund seems to have failed in its main aim of attracting council support, and it looks like fortnightly collections are here to stay.
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