Ipswich/UK: Government sets up fund to restore weekly bin collections
IPSWICH Borough Council could be one of the local authorities to be offered financial support to restore weekly rubbish collections, the Government has announced.
A new quarter of a billion pound fund is being set up to help local authorities in England switch from fortnightly to weekly bin rounds.
The policy is being seen by Conservatives as delivering on a pledge the party made in Opposition.
The Government came under fire in June following its Waste Review, when it was revealed that councils would not have to bring back weekly bin collections and householders would not be penalised for “minor mistakes” when putting out their bins.
Labour then accused the Government of breaking its pre-election promise to abandon fortnightly bin collections, branding it a “huge missed opportunity”.
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Unveiling the move before the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said he believed every household in England had “a basic right” to have their rubbish collected every week.
“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,” he said last night.
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“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.”
The �250 million Weekly Collections Support Scheme is expected to begin from next April.
Funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government will be given to English local authorities which guarantee to retain or reinstate weekly waste collections for at least five years, and which demonstrate the potential to increase recycling rates or provide other environmental benefits, such as reducing fly-tipping and litter, alongside weekly collections.
Councils will be able to bid for funding individually or in groups and can include the private sector “where this increases value for money”.
