Charges for bin collections could rise and “sacrosanct” weekly collections face the axe as Havering Council looks to plug a £70 million budget gap.
A proposal in the authority’s budget consultation for the year from April 2023 suggests changing collections from weekly to alternate, with recycling taken one week, and waste for landfill the alternate week.
It adds that wheelie bins would be provided to most households, with household waste not put into those bins to not to be collected.
Food waste containers would also be provided, but would continue to be collected and disposed of weekly.
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Officials estimate alternate weekly collections would cut costs by around £650,000 over the next four years – and suggestions also include raising fees.
These involve upping garden waste charges from £60 to £70 per year and raising bulky waste collection charges from £45.50 to £55 for one to three items, with each additional item going up from £11.50 to £14.
In total, the council said this could result in increased income of £285,000 over four years.
Conservative group leader Cllr Damian White described the weekly collection service as “sacrosanct”, and warned fly-tipping could be a potential knock-on effect of amending the schedule.
Acknowledging the difficulty of the council’s current financial position, he said: “I don’t believe that moving to alternate weekly collections is really going to save significant amounts of money for the authority.”
He added that regular refuse collection is part of the “social contract” between the council and residents, especially given how much it spends on services such as adult and children's social care, which are not used by many people.
Others include reducing grounds maintenance and increasing council tax, with Havering Council having to find ways of balancing the books over the next few years.
Council leader Cllr Ray Morgon has previously described the current situation as “the most difficult position that we’ve ever been in”.
Rising statutory adult and children’s social care costs and a reduction in central government funding are among the issues raised as impacting the council’s finances.
Havering Council was approached for comment.
The budget consultation for 2023/24 runs until December 30.
To view the online survey and a full list of consultation events, visit: https://consultation.havering.gov.uk/corporate/budget-2023/
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