Conservatives threaten funding cuts for refusing weekly bin collections

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has warned English councils that fail to restore weekly bin collections could have their central government funding slashed. Mr Pickles said there was “no plausible reason” why councils should not collect bins weekly and warned that formula grant funding could be removed from authorities which did not do so. At the moment, only Stoke-on-Trent Council has reverted to weekly bin collections out of 216 in the country.

In Hyndburn, the estimated costs have been drawn up and the impact on annual Council resources is considerable:

£105,000  Contract hire 3 vehicles              
£36,000  Fuel for 3 vehicles
£90,000  3 extra drivers
£234,000  9 extra loaders
£82,000  Cover for absence

Total = £547,000 per annum  

Weekly general waste collections would be expected to impact on recycling rates and currently HBC receives around £230,000 per year from sales of recyclable waste.

The scheme has attracted widespread derision from Councils across the United Kingdom and is not supported by the controlling Labour group at HBC.