Eric Pickles is apparently promising that all authorities will have weekly bin collections to the Daily Telegraph. He has been repeating this theme for some time.
It shows how genuine his committment to localism is that he is quite happy to instruct every Council in the country on exactly how to organise its rubbish disposal.
It also shows how interested the supposedly "greenest government ever" is genuinely green, in that they want to impose such a policy without worrying about the lower recycling rates, or the higher greenhouse gas emissions that would ensue.
However, it also struck me that it doesn't sound like it will have much practical effect. The Teklegraph suggests a strucuture will be created similar to that used with the Council Tax. This financial year and the next, Councils that (like Brent) keep their Council Tax rise at zero get a one off grant for each year. The grant is equivalent to a 2.5% Council Tax rise. After the two year pause the grant is withdrawn.
This concievably works for Council Tax, because it is an annual decision. Raising or not raising the Council Tax this year, doesn't effect your Council Tax setting in the following year. Waste management, however, requires long term contracts of several years to collect the bins and to process them. It needs investment in vehicles, bins and other infrastructure. It also needs plenty of public education to get people to understand and use the system.
It sounds to me as if Eric Pickles just doesn't get this.
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