Following a Lib Dem press release where the Exec Member Ian Shenton announced that the Wokingham Borough litter bin service would be slashed, Conservative Councillor Keith Baker was quick to pick up the fact that the decision was being sneaked in without following any of the normal decision-making processes, there to ensure transparency and value for money. There was:
- no published business case
- no public consultation
- no formal decision making, no scrutiny
As a result the Council admitted the error, apologised and started to reverse the changes. Meanwhile, rubbish piled up in the streets as litter bin emptying seemed to have ceased completely. Now a couple of weeks have gone by, the litter bins have been reopened and the wave of abandoned dog poo bags seems to have receded somewhat. The clean-up no doubt incurred cost and disruption as the waste team were working over the weekends to deal with the mess.
Meanwhile, the Lib Dems are trying to distance themselves from the decision. A Liberal Democrat councillor claimed on Facebook that the action was not approved by their Liberal exec member or any other Councillor. In direct contradiction to this claim, we have confirmation from the council that the change was under discussion since 22nd Nov last year and that the instruction to contractors to cut the service was issued on the 22nd May, this instruction confirmed that Member agreement had been received. The council have also confirmed that the savings projected from the litter bin debacle to amount to less than £70k, out of a £250 million budget.
Thanks to Keith's quick action we now have been promised a proper consultation with the Lib Dem Exec member admitting when questioned that the wrong bins may have been removed!
We still have a chance to make them restore the full service...sign our petition
https://www.wokinghamconservatives.org.uk/campaigns/save-wokingham-boro…
