Walsall Council has withdrawn plans to charge for green waste collections from 2016, after more than 70 per cent of residents said they would not pay for the service.

Consultation background

The decision was taken following a consultation on draft budget proposals that would save the council a total of £29 million next year (and a further £57 million over the following three years) to deal with central government budget cuts.

The draft proposals included plans to:

• close the household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) for one additional day at each site per week and to reduce daily opening hours to 9am to 5pm (saving £98,000);
• reduce garden waste collection to six months (instead of eight months) between April and September (saving £140,000 in 2015/16);
• introduce charges for garden waste collection from April 2016 (saving £310,000 in 2016/17);
• reduce the frequency of the street cleansing service and cutting 15 environmental operative posts (saving £477,732 in 2015/16);
• switch from weekly to fortnightly residual waste collections in 2016/17 (saving £532,000); and
• reduce the frequency of grass cutting, and reducing parks and grounds maintenance (saving around £900,00).

Responses to waste proposals

More than 7,000 people responded to the consultation, which ran between 30 October 2014 and 5 January 2015. Negative feedback from the process has seen 11 proposals totaling £1,574,679 of savings over two years being removed or amended– including charges for green waste collections and cuts in street cleansing.

The changes will reportedly be funded through a combination of ‘replacement savings, use of alternative funding, and minor one-off general reserves’.

Green waste charges

According to the council, 543 people responded to the proposal to charge approximately £28 a year for garden waste collections (dependant on the number of months the service would run), with 70.5 per cent of respondents saying they would not pay for the service. Reasons for this included a belief that fly-tipping would increase if a charge were brought in, and the belief that the garden waste service is already covered by Council Tax payments.

Further to this, a petition to axe the garden ‘tax’ gathered 1,500 signatures.

Respondents suggested that savings could instead be made by reducing the frequency of collections; selling back compost to residents; and recovering and selling heat from the composting process.

In view of these factors, and the impact that such a low take-up would have on the viability of the service, the council cabinet has now proposed withdrawing this proposal.

Closure of HWRCs

Approximately 450 people responded to the proposition to closure Walsall’s two HWRCs for one additional day per week (meaning that each site would be open five days a week) and to reduce daily opening hours to 9am to 5pm (currently 8am-6pm on weekdays).

This proposal was ‘generally supported’, however there were concerns over whether the opening hours would be limited to the working week (thus reducing the practicality of access for those who work during those hours) and whether the two sites would be closed on the same day.

As such, the council has said that it will ‘review opening hours more closely’ and ensure that the sites remain open over the weekend.

Reducing duration of garden waste collection availability

Approximately 500 people responded to the proposal to reduce the duration of garden waste collections from eight months to six (April – September), with many residents who supported the service voicing concern that the six-month collection period did not cover the growing season.

Residents suggested that the council could instead offer compost bins to householders or make savings by selling the compost created from the garden waste collection.

Despite this, the council has stated that it intends to approve a collection of garden waste for six months between April and September.

Reducing the number of street cleansing staff and cleaning less frequently

There was a mixed response to the recommendations to cut 15 street-cleaning posts and undertaken street cleansing less often, with some residents voicing concern over increased levels of littering and the negative influence on the local economy.

Residents suggested that savings could be made by introducing more enforcement and better education on littering and prioritising cleaning in areas that ‘need it most’.

As such, the cabinet has decided to change the proposal so that Walsall centre receives street cleansing on a ‘mobile demand-led basis, as opposed to having dedicated resources within the centre’, so that resources can be focused on areas of deterioration. This will result in six job losses.

In total, this amended proposal would save the council £226,747 (down from £477,732).

Switching to fortnightly collections of residual waste

The council has also suggested switching from weekly to fortnightly collections of residual waste in 2016/17.

Although this proposal will be the subject of a separate public consultation in ‘summer 2015’, there was an even divide between support and reservation from householders.

Concerns centred around whether the 140-litre bins would be of sufficient capacity to hold two weeks’ worth of waste, and issues over smell and vermin.

Residents suggested savings could instead be made by introducing separate food waste collections and allowing residents to purchase additional collections at their own cost.

The cabinet will further consider this proposal following the additional feedback from the consultation proposed for later in the year.

Feedback then received will be taken into account in deciding the 2016/17 budget.

‘The number of staff redundancies will reduce’

Leader of Walsall Council, Councillor Sean Coughlan, said: “We’ve listened to what Walsall people have had to say and this has helped us make informed decisions… We do recognise some of our proposals may not be popular. That’s why we listened carefully to people. For several proposals, where this would cause difficulties for local people we have now decided not to go ahead.”

Councillor Keith Chambers, Lead Cabinet Member for the Budget Consultation, added: “This has been the council’s biggest budget consultation ever undertaken. Over 7,000 responses have been received to the 54 draft policy proposals – thank you to everyone who took the time to have their say.

“Listening to the people of Walsall throughout this consultation has helped us shape our decisions. Feedback from service users, businesses, children and young people, other stakeholders and staff has been used to fine-tune our draft proposals and adjustments have been made.

“This means that the number of staff redundancies will reduce and we will mitigate these with voluntary redundancy requests where possible.”

The results of the consultation will be reported to Walsall Council Cabinet on Wednesday (4 February), for final consideration before approval by the full council on 26 February.

Find out more about Walsall Council’s budget plans.