Agenda item

A member of the public has given notice that he wishes to ask the following question -

  "Will the Council delay implementation of the green bin tax until further consideration has been given to the concerns of the local electorate and feedback is provided by the District Council to the issues raised, such as those contained in an e-petition on the subject which has been open for signatures for a period of 90 days from 17th June 2013?"

Supporting information by the questioner has been sent separately to Members.  The Deputy Executive Leader, Councillor N J Guyatt will respond to the question.

In the absence of the questioner, the Chairman invited the Deputy Executive Councillor, Councillor N J Guyatt to respond to the following question –

  "Will the Council delay implementation of the green bin tax until further consideration has been given to the concerns of the local electorate and feedback is provided by the District Council to the issues raised, such as those contained in an e-petition on the subject which has been open for signatures for a period of 90 days from 17th June 2013?"

Given the interest in this subject, Councillor Guyatt agreed to respond to those questions which Members intended to raise under Minute No 24 at this point in the meeting.

Councillor Guyatt reported that 1682 householders had already paid the charge for a second green bin and that the necessity for the charge lay with the decision of the Government to reduce funding to local authorities which consequently impacted on the services they could provide.

The District Council had achieved substantial savings already but still was required to make further difficult decisions in this respect.  The Deputy Executive Leader reminded the Council that the matter had been discussed by the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Panel on two occasions.  He also pointed out that the provision of second green bins to households was an additional service for which the recipients should pay and that other Councils even charged for the first green bin.

Having indicated his opposition to the original decision, Councillor P D Reeve questioned whether the decision to charge had been successful in reducing the cost of collection and asked where the returned bins were being stored. 

As Executive Councillor for the Environment, Councillor D M Tysoe confirmed that the green bins returned was consistent with the number expected and that the financial projections allowed for this level of return when the original scheme was conceived.  In terms of their future use, Councillor Tysoe added that the collection of bins avoided the need to purchase new bins as replacements and for new properties, that sufficient space for storage was available and special arrangements would continue for the collection of the wheeled bins of the elderly and vulnerable.  A software issue which had initially prevented householders from paying for their second green bin had been overcome.

In response to questions from Councillor M G Baker, Councillor Guyatt confirmed that the District Council had no plans to charge for collection of the first green bin but that he could not guarantee that a different administration would decide differently.  He added that it would be impractical to give a discount to households occupied by a single person in view of the scale of the charge. 

Having provided Councillor Guyatt with various statistics which suggested that the net gain from the project could amount to approximately £20,000 and in view of its unpopularity with residents, Councillor S Greenall asked whether the Council would reconsider the decision.  Councillor Guyatt repeated that the decision had been reconsidered on two occasions already and that he would respond, in writing, to the various assertions after the meeting.

In terms of alternative saving proposals, Councillor P L E Bucknell suggested that he had submitted options for savings but had yet to receive a response and that he had been contacted by 129 residents who were unhappy with the proposal.

In concluding discussion, Councillor Tysoe suggested that 90% of residents were content with one green bin, that the service represented good value for money and that the scheme had been well considered and would be subject to review after one year’s operation.  In view of the suggestion from Councillor M F Shellens that Customer Services had been advised to refer questions from residents on second green bins to Ward Councillors, both Executive Councillors denied that this was the case but undertook to investigate the matter and respond in writing to the questioner.