Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Tory County Council Recycling Bin Delay

The latest example of financial waste by Tory-run Bedfordshire County Council has left local taxpayers with a bill for over £100,000 and thousands of residents waiting for recycling bins they were due to receive nearly six months ago.

From April this year, the County Council cut off the funding for the orange recycling bags used by Bedford Borough residents, but agreed to supply recycling bins as an alternative. However, following a delay in ordering replacement bins the Borough Council has had to fund the continued provision of orange sacks. Reserve funding of £100,000 allocated by the Borough Council this year with the intention of providing recycling bags only for those residents who choose not to use a bin is already exhausted. A further £110,000 of emergency funding is now needed to avoid the prospect of residents running out of sacks before the new bins arrive.

Commenting, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Leader Cllr Dave Hodgson said: "With months to go before the County Council is abolished, its Conservative leaders are upholding their reputation for wasting taxpayers' money right up to the bitter end. This sorry tale illustrates the Tories' relaxed attitude to frittering away public money. First, they decided that they would take recycling bags away completely without the agreement of the Borough Council or, more importantly, local residents. They then refused to give the Borough Council the money to buy the bins itself, but did not order the bins in time themselves for them to be ready in April. Now a further delay means that local taxpayers are having to foot a £110,000 bill for a second full delivery of orange sacks which should not have been needed.'

"The Conservatives claim to want to increase recycling participation, yet their actions repeatedly suggest exactly the opposite. First they tried to impose fortnightly rubbish collections onto Bedford Borough, a move which would only have alienated local residents and worked against efforts to help people to recycle. Then they took away the funding for the orange recycling sacks but failed to provide the replacement bins they promised. This has meant that thousands of pounds of emergency money is having to be found from the pockets of local taxpayers for extra recycling bags which should never have been required in the first place."

The recycling bins are now estimated to arrive in February 2009, ten months late. The Borough Council's Executive agreed at its meeting on Wednesday evening to provide the £85,000 needed for the purchase of extra orange sacks, in addition to £25,000 committed by the County for this purpose.