Pickles finds £250m bin cash to reward weekly collections

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

Local authorities are going to be supported by central government funding to the tune of £250m to reintroduce weekly bin collections.

Making the announcement ahead of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Eric Pickles said weekly bin collections are a 'basic right' for citizens. The move will fulfil a pledge made while in Opposition and follows the Coalition's June Waste Review.

At the time it appeared that the promise to restore weekly bin collections had been dropped but the Communities and Local Government Secretary has resurrected the populist move days before the Tories gather in Manchester.

It has garnered favourable headlines in the Daily Mail and Daily Express but will not be popular with environmental groups which have hailed the recycling benefits brought about by fortnightly collections.

Mr Pickles said: "Weekly rubbish collections are the most visible of all frontline services and I believe every household in England has a basic right to have their rubbish collected every week.

"Our fund will help councils deliver weekly collections and in the process make it easier for families to go green and improve the local environment."

Councils should be able to apply to the fund from April 2012.

The cash will be on offer from Mr Pickles' department to English councils which commit to weekly collections for the next five years and which show they have the potential to increase recycling rates or provide other environmental benefits, such as reducing fly-tipping and litter, alongside weekly collections.

Councils can bid individually or collectively for funding and the private sector can get involved "where this increases value for money".

NLGN director Simon Parker said: “At a time when councils are facing deep spending cuts, the government’s crusade for weekly bin collections is starting to look a little eccentric. The £250m of new money announced today is the equivalent of a year’s worth of residential or nursing care for 9,335 elderly people.

"With social care costs going through the roof, most councils would prefer that CLG’s money had been spent on looking after the vulnerable, rather than on providing extra waste collections which many residents are prepared to do without.”

Keith House, LGA Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: "It's good news that the coalition Government is providing new money to councils for the vital frontline services of bin collection and recycling. Hard-pressed councils will be pleased to receive positive news amidst the general picture of severe reductions in spending.

"However, there is more than a whiff of old fashioned 'Whitehall knows best' in Eric Pickles' diktat that only councils that provide weekly bin collection will be eligible for the new money."

Dorothy Thornhill, of the LGA Lib Dem group, added: "Eric Pickles has revealed his true colours as an extreme centraliser. His statement flies in the face of the coalition Government's commitment to localism. It appears that local services must be provided according to Eric Pickles' demands.

"Arrangements for bin collection and recycling should be determined by local people according to local preferences, not by an increasingly bossy Secretary of State."

Copyright Press Association 2011