Bin tax scheme may be scrapped

10:09am Tuesday 13th May 2008

A POSSIBLE u-turn on controversial plans to impose a bin tax on local authorities has been welcomed by Enfield Council's environment chief.

The Government had previously considered introducing the tax, which could result in authorities having to pay up to £60 for every tonne of rubbish of which they disposed.

Some local authorities said that the cost would have to be passed onto council tax payers.

But last week it was reported that the plans for the tax could be scrapped as part of a Government counter-attack following the poor election results suffered by the Labour Party.

Cllr Terry Neville, cabinet member for environment, said: "If the reports are true that the Government will go back on their bin tax plans, it's to be welcomed.

"Hard-working council tax payers have every right to expect their rubbish to be collected without having to shell out for more.

"Enfield Council's own position has always been the same - we will not impose any sort of punitive charge on this basic service and we would fight tooth and nail if any such tax was imposed on us."

Cllr Neville conceded that councils are under pressure from the Government's new landfill escalator, which makes councils pay the Treasury for the waste they bury.

The new charges for the North London Waste Authority, of which Enfield is a part, are expected to rise from £8.3million a year to over £14.5m by 2012.

Cllr Neville said Enfield would look to expand its recycling services and encourage residents to recycle more without having to resort to "knee-jerk" punitive methods.

He added: "Enfield's approach is to look at new innovative customer-friendly ways to meet the waste challenges which face councils over the next 20 years.

"This is why we have ordered a wholesale review of our waste services which we intend to present to residents as soon as possible."

Pilot schemes to charge for the amount of rubbish disposed of are taking place in certain areas of the country, although they are not yet compulsory.

A Government spokesman said no final decision had yet been made on whether the schemes could ever become the norm.

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