Agenda item

To be moved by Councillor Ball and seconded by Councillor Bacon.

It was moved by Councillor Ball and seconded by Councillor Bacon that:

This Council notes:

·       The brown bin garden waste collection service, for which residents pay an annual subscription fee, was suspended with immediate effect from early August 2025 due to a staff shortage, with disruptions continuing well beyond the initial end-of-August resumption date.

·       This suspension and subsequent delays have led to widespread inconvenience, with many subscribers unable to dispose of garden waste through the service they have paid for, forcing them to seek alternative disposal methods at significant personal cost, often exceeding the value of any proposed compensation.

·       The Council’s offer of a £10 refund or discount on next year’s subscription has been widely criticised as inadequate and insulting, failing to address the full extent of the disruption or the financial burden placed on residents.

·       These service failures have disproportionately affected vulnerable groups, including disabled residents who rely on the brown bin service for accessible waste management and have faced additional hardships in managing garden waste without it.

·       Public confidence in the leadership of the Council’s waste management service has been severely eroded, as evidenced by ongoing complaints and media coverage highlighting persistent issues.

This Council believes:

·       Subscribers to the brown bin service deserve fair treatment and full compensation for a service that has not been delivered as promised, rather than token gestures that do not reflect the true costs incurred by residents.

·       Waiving the subscription fees for the affected period is essential to restore trust in the Council’s ability to provide reliable public services and to prevent further alienation of ratepayers.

·       Continuing to charge full fees amid such disruptions undermines the principles of accountability and value for money expected from local government.

·       Prioritising resident welfare, particularly for disabled and vulnerable individuals, must be at the heart of any response to service failures, and that the current approach falls short of this standard.

This Council resolves to:

1.    Offer residents who subscribed to the 2025 brown bin garden waste service a waived subscription fee for the 2026 service, provided they take up the offer to continue their subscription in 2026, as compensation for issues experienced this year.

2.    Issue a public apology to affected residents, acknowledging the inadequacy of the £10 offer and the broader impacts of the service disruption.
 

3.    Conduct an independent review of the garden waste service incorporating feedback from residents, including disabled users and present these findings to the Executive for their consideration and decision on any subsequent actions.

4.    Explore options for enhancing support for vulnerable residents, such as assisted collections, to prevent similar disproportionate impacts in future.

On being put to the vote, the motion was lost.

In accordance with Procedure Rule 19 (2) Councillor Ball had requested that a recorded vote should be taken on the proposed motion. Five Members stood to show their support for a recorded vote to be taken on the motion. The vote was as follows:

For (21): Councillors Bacon, Ball, Baum-Dixon, Bennett-Sylvester, Blackham, Bower, A. Carter, C. Carter, Castledine-Dack, T. Collingham, Z. Collingham, Elliott, Fisher, Harrison, Hussain, Reynolds, Stables, Tarmey, Thorp, Tinsley and Yasseen.

Against (31): Councillor Adair, Ahmed, Alam, Allen, Baggaley, Baker-Rogers, Beck, Beresford, Brent, Clarke, Cowen, Cusworth, Duncan, Garnett, Harper, Hughes, Ismail, Jackson, Jones, Keenan, Lelliott, Mault, McKiernan, Monk, Rashid, Read, Sheppard, Steele, Sutton, Taylor and Williams.

Abstentions (1): Councillor Currie.