Council Wheelie Bins

Zandoni

harrys_dad wrote: »

Councils have had their central government funding cut by over 40% in the last seven years. They have also seen huge increases in costs for statutory services like social care. They are forbidden from raising council tax by more than a tiny percentage, so something has to give. Many things that used to be free are now charged for. Large wheelie bins may be one, green waste removal another; it varies from council to council.

Most peoples pay has only risen by a tiny percentage too.

Keep_pedalling

Our bins were provided free but we are charged for replacements. Either pay the £20 or find a neighbour with a large bin who would prefer a smaller one.

steampowered

Zandoni wrote: »

Most peoples pay has only risen by a tiny percentage too.

But not many people have seen a giant pay cut.

To be clear, council tax only funds 22% of local authority spending. The rest comes from business rates (17%) and central government grants (61%).

Since 2010 local authorities have had their grants cut by 40% leading to an overall budget cut of 26% in real terms.

To me it seems pretty reasonable to ask someone to pay £20 if they want a new bin, particularly given the budget situation ...

Hedgehog99

If you need the capacity, buy the bigger bin.

The money is worth it in the long run.

Where I used to live, I inherited a small bin and paid the one-off extra to get a larger one. It said in the small print that they'd collect my old small one when they delivered the large one (and yet the price was the same whether buying outright or upgrading), so I hid the small one that day so I could keep it to store winter salt and garden equipment. I only ever put one bin out for collection.

Even if you don't usually have enough rubbish for a bigger bin, it's surprising how annoying it is trying to cut something down to fit in the smaller bin for the times you do have something bigger to get rid of.

And over Christmas etc. if you end up with a longer wait between collections.

Zandoni

steampowered wrote: »

But not many people have seen a giant pay cut.

To be clear, council tax only funds 22% of local authority spending. The rest comes from business rates (17%) and central government grants (61%).

Since 2010 local authorities have had their grants cut by 40% leading to an overall budget cut of 26% in real terms.

To me it seems pretty reasonable to ask someone to pay £20 if they want a new bin, particularly given the budget situation ...

Public sector workers have been having pay cuts for years with their less than inflation pay rises.
I'd agree that it would be reasonable to pay for a new bin if you just changed your mind, but in this case it's a new occupant.

NCC-1701

Zandoni wrote: »

Public sector workers have been having pay cuts for years with their less than inflation pay rises.
I'd agree that it would be reasonable to pay for a new bin if you just changed your mind, but in this case it's a new occupant.

..and they have a supplied FOC bin albeit smaller than they'd like. £20 is cheap to upsize it for their wants.

What sort of stuff are you buying and throwing out that you need a big bin?

[Deleted User]

NCC-1701 wrote: »

What sort of stuff are you buying and throwing out that you need a big bin?

From the original post, the issue is not that the OP requires a big bin but rather a standard one. The bin used by the original occupant was only suitable for a single person.

Wheelie bins cost far more than £20, and the fee is simply to discourage people from ordering one when they are not really required.

While recycling more is certainly to be encouraged, it does sound as if the current bin is inadequate for the OP's needs.

This leaves the OP with no realistic option than to pay the ( already heavily subsidised) fee.

Zandoni

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

From the original post, the issue is not that the OP requires a big bin but rather a standard one. The bin used by the original occupant was only suitable for a single person.

Wheelie bins cost far more than £20, and the fee is simply to discourage people from ordering one when they are not really required.

While recycling more is certainly to be encouraged, it does sound as if the current bin is inadequate for the OP's needs.

This leaves the OP with no realistic option than to pay the ( already heavily subsidised) fee.

According to this article the wholesale price of a wheelie bin is below £20. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/businessandecology/recycling/8594714/New-stealth-tax-on-wheelie-bins.html

KeithP

Zandoni wrote: »

According to this article the wholesale price of a wheelie bin is below £20. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/businessandecology/recycling/8594714/New-stealth-tax-on-wheelie-bins.html

That's not what the article said. The word 'below' does not appear.

It actually said:

...the wholesale price of a normal wheelie bin is just £20.

Anyway, what is the relevance of the wholesale price?

Seems quite reasonable to me for the OP's council to be selling them for £20.
I wonder if that includes delivery?

Zandoni

KeithP wrote: »

That's not what the article said. The word 'below' does not appear.

It actually said:

Anyway, what is the relevance of the wholesale price?

Seems quite reasonable to me for the OP's council to be selling them for £20.
I wonder if that includes delivery?

The post that I quoted stated that the bin was price was subsidised and the council would have paid the wholesale price.