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Jeez reading you lot on here makes me glad I live in Cafilthy
Mentioned before I think, but my son lives in Herts. He has 3 large bins [same size as our green ones.] One for gen waste, one for general recycling, and one for garden waste. They're all collected every week, 52 weeks a year. He can also visit the local recycling depot as many times as he wants without the need to book. Worlds away from Senydd/Drakeford politics..
I doubt it is anything to do with 'Senydd/Drakeford politics'.
It is almost certainly about Council funding levels.
True there is a degree of autonomy in the nations outside England, that there will always be some poor decisions and some inefficiency, and at the margins it can be about funding choices (Councils choosing to pay for a few 20 mph road signs where the WAG has enabled them rather than a few more plastic bins) but it is the same story across most of the UK - whether England, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales.
Since 2010 there has been a massive and continuing financial squeeze on Councils whilst demand from an ageing population grows.
Hertfordshire may be the exception that proves the rule - but most in the face of central government funding cuts have stopped providing most discretionary services, have maxed out on Council Tax rates, have watched business rate income drop (much more so in poorer Labour towns and cities than wealthier Tory shires), have started issuing section 114 notices (8 so far both Tory and Labour - and another 100+ council warning they are on the brink) and have sold every remaining asset.
Some councils are now little more than adult social care and emergency housing providers - and even there they are failing as demand goes up and revenues go down.
In the face of that it is no surprise that bin collection services across the UK have been hit year on year.
I don't see the sense in using bags (I have used these in the Vale and in Cornwall for a short time and they are a false economy) but otherwise Councils are forced to reduce waste collection services alongside everything else to balance their books.
We have four hard plastic wheelie bins in Sheffield. The frequency of collection is half of what it was in 2010. We have a big black bin for general waste collected every 2 weeks; a big brown bin for glass/cans/plastics collected every 4 weeks; a small blue bin for paper and card collected every 4 weeks and a big green bin for garden waste (for an annual fee) collected every 2 weeks during the 7-8 month growing season. Apart from the green bin (unchanged) the others have gone from 1/2 week collections to 2/4 weeks.
For waste collection (Dumpit) sites there is no need to book for domestic disposal - booking needed for big vans and traillers.
All of waste disposal was 'outsourced' to Veolia in 2001 when the Lib Dems were in control (35 year contract that has been very rocky over the years but still in place).
Some councils are now little more than adult social care and emergency housing providers - and even there they are failing as demand goes up and revenues go down.
So increased immigration for people requiring housing is having a big impact?
No, I'm sure it's down to the council reducing costs, but it's certainly spun in their leaflet and associated website as purely environmental : https://myrecyclingwales.org.uk/
Having browsed through it I have to admit I'm none the wiser - all a bit vague and opaque.
Interesting, there is already a massive housing shortage and they can't build them quickly enough, so what's going to happen if things don't change?
Who pays for the immigration hotels in Cardiff?
Is this what my council tax is being used for?
If so why are homeowners paying for it based on the size of their house and the area they live in and not income tax from people's income?
Can I opt out and have the bins collected instead?
I met a surveyor who I know,just before Christmas to do a small job for me. He's probably one the most well known in the area, and the Council also call on him frequently to survey their property portfolio. He told me of a couple of council homes that he had recently been asked by the council to survey as they were about to be vacated. In the one, there was an older lady and her daughter. Her granddaughter had recently died. He asked why they were vacating and they said the council were evicting them because they no longer 'needed' 3 bedrooms. They were being moved into hotel accommodation so that a family from Albania with children could move in. The lady and her daughter had lived in their home for over 20 years.
Than was my source.
Having too many bedrooms is not a legal reason for evicting any council tenant. An eviction would also need to go through court. Now there is a thing called the bedroom tax which might have made it unaffordable for them to still live there, but as far as an actual eviction, the council would have no legal standing to do so.
Looking forward to see how the new recycling scheme goes when it's rolled out in Cathays.
This is mainly about English councils (after the recent extra funding from central government) but describes the same pressures on councils in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:
https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/...ces-lga-survey
Two thirds of councils surveyed by the Local Government Association (LGA) warn communities will see cutbacks to local neighbourhood services this year – such as waste collection, road repairs, library, and leisure services – as they struggle to plug funding gaps.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/...r-survey-finds
Nearly one in 10 councils in England have warned they will go bust in the next 12 months as authorities plan widespread cuts, above-inflation council tax rises and across-the-board increases to resident charges, a survey has revealed.
The Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) annual poll of local authority leaders and top managers reveals a near-total collapse in confidence in the financial viability of councils as they grapple with “desperate” pressures and shrinking budgets.
It warns that council insolvencies – once extremely rare and triggered by unusual special factors such as the failure of commercial investments – should now be regarded as “normal occurrences” likely to hit even well run authorities.
One thing i've noticed is the cost of disabled care, there is so much more help compared to the old days adapted houses, cars, taxis to school day centers their own adapted homes, and the equipment is not cheap and the cost of home improvements. Of course, this is needed and very good for hard-working families who take on a lot of responsibility themselves, but the cost must be massive and will have accounted for a much larger proportion of the money than in the distant past, and I think you could apply this thought to every service provided.
Basically, the NHS, social care and housing services requirements have gone through the roof and will no longer be able to be funded in the long term, some very tough decisions are going to be needed in the coming years., things are just getting worse by the week.
I've had two rubble sacks dumped on my drive, with no instruction as to what they are, or what they're for. I guess these are the 'new rubbish sacks' everyone is talking about. Still got no idea which one to use for what. Mindless waste of money.