This is a must read for everyone and shows we are doing the right thing carrying on this campaign. Hopefully we can make a difference. From inbox / Jeremy After finding maggots crawling all over our bin I e-mailed the Right Honourable Eric Pickles who is Head of The Department for Communities. Here is the reply from a member of his team in full - it makes interesting reading... Dear Jeremy Lennard, Thank you for your email of 16 September 2014 to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) Secretary of State, the Rt. Hon Eric Pickles MP, about Bury Metropolitan Borough Council’s waste collection service. I have been asked to reply on his behalf. DCLG Ministers firmly believe that local authorities should maintain the weekly frequency and visibility of residual waste collections – the service that residents use most in return for their council tax – and will continue to strongly encourage councils to offer this regularity of collection. In 2012, DCLG made nearly £250 million available through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme to help local authorities retain weekly residual collections. Regrettably Bury Council did not bid for money from this scheme. DCLG Ministers are hugely disappointed that Bury Council is reducing its waste collection service to residents to a deplorable frequency of once every three weeks. Introducing a collection pattern of once every three weeks is an unnecessary move – there are plenty of opportunities for councils to make significant waste-related savings such as better partnership working and joint procurement. Last year, the hot summer saw wheelie bins that only got collected every fortnight producing unpleasant odours and getting infested with maggots. A once every three weeks collection will make things worse. Ministers agree with you that this situation is not acceptable. Councils must not forget their job is to serve the public. Furthermore, a number of local authorities such as Bournemouth Borough Council are achieving high recycling rates while retaining weekly residual waste collections. DCLG is also led to believe that thousands of Bury people have signed a petition against this decision by the Council. It is clearly not listening to its residents. I should state, however, that at the moment the Government does not normally directly intervene in local decision making on waste collection. It is for councils to decide on the collection service for their residents. I therefore must advise you to raise your obvious concerns directly with Bury Borough Council but let me assure you that DCLG Ministers will continue to encourage weekly collections of residual waste and stand up for hard-working people who deserve a decent bin service in return for their council tax. Yours sincerely
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:01:58 +0000
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