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Minister attacks council over bin collection cash
Letter: Eric Pickles. Photo: Dave Thompson/PA Wire
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has attacked Sheffield Council’s Labour administration for ‘intentionally ignoring’ his £250 million fund to help cover the cost of weekly bin collections.
The Tory cabinet minister has written to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam, criticising the controversial proposals to reduce the service to fortnightly, which Labour says will save £2.4 million per year.
However, it has emerged the move will only save a maximum of £1.6 million in its first year as it will not be implemented immediately.
It could also cost up to £1 million in fees to contractor Veolia for changeover costs such as redundancies and there will be a £400,000 bill for ‘communicating’ the change to residents - leaving a maximum saving of just £200,000 in the first year.
Mr Pickles said: “I believe it is a false economy to cut frontline services - councils can save money through new technology, embracing innovation, more joint working and better procurement. Indeed, many councils with fortnightly collections have higher collection costs than those with weekly collections.
“It is disappointing the ruling administration on the council has decided to make these cuts. It intentionally decided to ignore the Coalition’s new scheme to support weekly collections. This strikes me as a very partisan move.
“I urge the council to review its decision and consider applying for the scheme.”
Mr Clegg said: “The Coalition has made clear money is available to keep weekly collections and Labour has made no effort to even find out what help there could be.”
Mr Pickles’s fund makes £250 million available over three years and councils receiving help must commit to keeping weekly collections for five years. Funding will be allocated in autumn.
Lib Dems on Sheffield Council say the authority should make a bid to the fund and keep bins collections weekly while waiting for an answer.
However, Coun Bryan Lodge, Labour deputy council leader, said: “We don’t have the luxury of waiting until October to set our budget and both Mr Pickles and Mr Clegg know that.
“It’s time for a definitive answer.
“Sheffield needs to know - are we guaranteed the funding or not?”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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Comments
There are 8 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Charlie Farleigh
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:07 PMOooooops... no comments allowed on A4e again! And still no word from Mr D Blunkett!!
silverblade
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 08:00 PMIf you recycle why on earth do you need your bin (wastebin) emptied every week ,with recycling cans cardboarb & garden waste are emptied the second week, it's Eric Pickles who is playing party politics, remember crumbling schools in Bradford when he was in charge never trust a tory....
seenitall
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:46 PMLocal Government needs purging of local party politicians who constantly play political games The result... well, apart from the bins just compare our patched up network of roads with those in Chesterfield and NE Derbyshire!
awreetthen
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 05:46 PMLabour placing politics before people once again. They really have been shown to be an anti Britain party over the past decade. Perhaps they should be renamed The Treason Party. Councils are a nest of bloated inefficiency with taxpayers footing the bill but its always front line services that they threaten. I bet we will never see a cut in Councillors expenses and the padded out practice of committee remuneration . But then we know these clowns would be unemployable in the real world so they have to hang on
Ukip
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 05:03 PMI personally think you should have your bin weighed every week and be charged on usage like water.
Charlie Farleigh
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 04:56 PMThis is party-political game playing at its very worst, and would be avoided if the political element was taken out of local services provision completely. That means Govt deciding what services are to be provided and to what standard, then employing competent PROFESSIONALS to oversee implementation which would also mean instant goodbyes to the likes of Mothersole, Adams, Sharp et al.
Archangel
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 04:40 PMThey only take their snouts out of the trough to grunt at one another occassionally to fool us plebs that they are there.
handsworth
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 04:20 PMIts no use shouting at them or trying to take them to task The only thing this mob understand is to put a bomb under the lot of them
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