Right of households to rubbish bin collection by councils to be abolished

By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Editor

Last Updated: 11:30AM BST 19/07/2008

The legal right of all householders to have their bins emptied by their local council is to be abolished, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER

The proposals will allow town halls to set their own rules on what constitutes a contravention of waste collection policies

The government is to give councils the power to refuse to collect rubbish if home owners fail to abide by draconian rules which may include leaving bins in the right place, sticking to weight restrictions and following strict recycling policies.

Labour is quietly pushing the new rules through parliament without any debate after it proposed amendments to a 130-year-old law which has, until now, made it a statutory duty of local authorities to collect household waste.

There are fears that the changes to the law will lead to large increases in fly-tipping, bonfires of noxious substances and rat infestations around uncollected waste. Despite this, there will no reduction in council tax for home owners.

The Conservatives described the plans as "disgraceful", adding that bin men will now be able to use "any excuse not to empty your bin".

Many Labour MPs fear the changes will add to a growing backlash against the government which has seen them slump in the polls.

Ian Gibson, a Labour MP who sits on the parliamentary committee which is scrutinising the changes, said: "It is a British way of life to have your bins emptied once a week. Taking that away is like losing your birthright."

Phil Woolas, the environment minister, quietly added an amendment to section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 earlier this month which now states: "A waste collection authority is not obliged to collect household waste that is placed for collection in contravention of a requirement under this section."

Town halls will be free to set their own rules on what constitutes a "contravention" of waste collection policies.

Councils could refuse to empty bins that are too far from a curb, are not placed directly outside a gate or are put out on the street too early.

The proposed changes amount to a reversal of the basic right of all households to have their rubbish collected, which was enshrined in law by the Public Health Act 1875.

The measures have already passed through two parts of a three-stage scrutiny process in parliament and will become law later this year if they are approved by the standing committee on climate change, which is dominated by Labour MPs.

It comes at a time when the government is already under fire over controversial fortnightly rubbish collections, which affect almost 20 million people, and "pay as you throw" schemes being trialled by some councils, in which bins are weighed and penalties imposed on people whose rubbish exceeds set limits.

Eric Pickles, the shadow local government secretary, said: "It is disgraceful that these new laws are being rushed through Parliament with no debate and no vote.

"People genuinely want to improve recycling and go green, but Labour's policy of bin cuts and bin taxes will fuel fly-tipping, backyard burning and harm public health.

"These changes will fuel the public backlash at the Government's rubbish policy. Under Gordon Brown, local residents are paying exorbitant levels of council tax, but are failing to get decent public services in return."

Currently councils must collect rubbish from home owners unless it breaches one of two policies – "a closed lid" policy where the bin is not shut properly or a "side waste" policy meaning bin bags cannot be left alongside wheelie bins.

Whitehall sources said that the change in the law was proposed by central government and was not requested by councils.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: "It is in no way in councils' interests to use tactics that would alienate local people. It would be wholly counterproductive for town halls to approach this issue in a heavy-handed way that could put people off dealing with their rubbish responsibly.

"Councils always provide people with straightforward information about what to do with their rubbish and work with residents to reduce the amount they produce and to encourage them to recycle.

"Britain is the dustbin of Europe, throwing away more per household than any other country in the EU. We have to change radically the way that we get rid of our rubbish and the days of tipping everything into a hole in the ground are long gone."

Joan Ruddock, the minister for climate change, biodiversity and waste, said: "There is still a general duty to collect rubbish free from households. All that has changed is that when a household is given a formal notice, if they don't abide by it then the council no longer has a duty to collect."

Government targets are for 40 per cent of household waste to be recycled by 2010, rising to 50 per cent by 2020. Policy papers show that officials want to limit rubbish collections in a bid "to compel householders to reduce their waste".

Last month ministers also revealed that householders will face fines of £50 for failing to recycle their rubbish.