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NEW BIN TAX BOMBSHELL

Bin tax: Pay-as-you-throw

Thursday May 15,2008

By John Ingham and Sarah Westcott

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(28)

MINISTERS are pushing ahead with plans for pay-as-you-throw bin taxes – just days after Gordon Brown signalled they would be axed.

Five pilot schemes are being rolled out across the country which could slap up to £1,000 a year on every family that fails to recycle enough.

Labour yesterday insisted it would not be “intimidated” by critics into scrapping the schemes.

But after the Prime Minister’s meltdown at the local elections his aides indicated he was ready to axe bin taxes to win back middle-class voters, whose “pain” he felt at the soaring cost of living. One source said: “Punitive rises in council taxes are not what we need.”

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Like zombies from a bad B-movie, bin taxes are a policy that will not die

Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles

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Yesterday Shadow Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said Labour spin doctors had misled the public to distract from Mr Brown’s election woes.

“Like zombies from a bad B-movie, bin taxes are a policy that will not die,” he said.

“Bin taxes are completely discredited but Labour ministers are arrogantly pushing ahead and ignoring the public.

“I fear this latest round of stealth taxation will push up the cost of living to breaking point – making it even harder for families who are now struggling to make ends meet under Labour.” He said Mr Brown had promised three times last year to dump bin taxes – only for the Government to continue with its plans.

Ministers have signalled the pilot schemes will “help us with our decision about roll-out” and allow local authorities to “set up their own schemes in due course”.

Opponents say three in five homes would be hit by bin charges.

The schemes are expected to offer a council tax rebate to households that recycle more but slap charges on those that do not do enough.

No figures have yet been published but the taxes are expected to cost families as much as £1,000 a year, with charges based on the weight of rubbish thrown away instead of recycled.

Many will also have to pay extra fees for “official” bin bags.

But critics say that such schemes will penalise large families and lead to an increase in fly-tipping and backyard burning.

Under EU laws Britain must dramatically reduce the amount of rubbish buried in landfill sites or face heavy fines which the Government would pass on to local councils.

Doretta Cocks, of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: “It makes you wonder who is in charge.

“I believe these bin taxes are inevitable. It will all depend on how the pilot schemes go.

“If residents really do object then they might give enough of a signal to make the Government give up.

“But bin taxes should be scrapped. The collection of refuse is a public health issue. Bin taxes will penalise larger families and people will find a way round them – they will burn their rubbish, put it in neighbours’ bins and fly-tip.”

Mark Wallace, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the Government would be charging hard-pressed families twice for removing their rubbish by imposing extra costs on top of council tax.

“The Government seems hell-bent on making families who are already faced with soaring council taxes pay through the nose for services they used to get as part of the council tax deal.

“These bin taxes will simply increase the suffering of households around the country and drive up the amount of fly-tipping. They are effectively charging us twice.”

The determination of the Department for Communities and Local Government to press ahead with pay-as-you throw charges was revealed yesterday in its response to a highly critical report by a Commons select committee.

In its response to the select committee the DCLG and the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs said the pilot schemes would not be withdrawn and would be run “before a decision is made to roll-out the scheme”.

They added: “The Government would not be running pilots if it did not think that the policy could have an important impact on reducing the amount of waste which goes to landfill.”

The DCLG said: “Our reason for proceeding on a pilot basis initially is to collect high-quality evidence. It’s not about retreating.”

BIN TAX BOMBSHELL

16.05.08, 12:14pm

When Brown took over power from our ever grinning friend, I stated to her in doors that the manwith fingernails chewed down to the quick, could notbe trusted as he was to alll intents and purposes a nevous untrustworthy kind of person. G.B has proved me right! He needs to see the light and GO NOW! with ref to bin tax, its apparently a problem with the amount of rubbish you put out for re cycleing. Re the old man of 96, isnt it obvious a person of that age isnt going to recycle as much as a house with several people in residence and why couldnt the bin men use their brain and quietly tell the old man about his mistake and deal with it without court action? No because, since the advent of computers the human brain has lost its way.Its obvious, for no one in authority have common sense anymore be they polititions, police, teachers or indeed ministers. Or is it all about raising revenue/ OR is it,you vil do as you are told or else! Engerland ist kapput!

• Posted by: oldsalt19341 • Report Comment

BIN TAX BOMBSHELL

16.05.08, 12:13pm

• Posted by: oldsalt19341 • Report Comment

TIME

16.05.08, 8:54am

Time for that referendum which this lieing government promised., WE ALL NEED TO KICK THE EU AND THIS GOVERNMENT OUT OF OUR LIVES.

• Posted by: RobertG • Report Comment

DISCRMINATION TAX

16.05.08, 8:46am

Surely this tax is a blatant discrimination against people who live in houses, because if you live in a block of flats you must be laughing at the housedwellers. People in flats throw their rubbish down chutes which end up in huge bins.
How on earth are you going to tax these types of premises or get to the culprits that aren't re-cycling. You won't be able to do it will you?
So you will tax the easy targets out of existence.
This is most definitely discrmination, I feel there is a case for the Human Rights Act here.

• Posted by: Rosw • Report Comment

NEW BIN TAX BOMBSHELL

16.05.08, 7:08am

Labour and Tory politicians (Libs haven't been in power since 1912) have stolen Britain from it's people and given it to foreigners. Meanwhile when in a supermarket take a few moments to remove unnecessary packaging from your purchases and leave it behind. That should ease the bin problems.

• Posted by: JohnnyB • Report Comment

PLEASE READ..

15.05.08, 10:19pm

and read again....
15.05.08, 9:09pm

As with everything that is wrong in this country now, it is down to the Money Pit called the EU !

This is why our Post Offices are being closed down, why none of our Laws work anymore, why we don't control our own borders anymore, why we pay so much tax now, why we are overrun with foreigners now, etc etc......

WE MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST LEAVE THE EU.
It is nothing to do with a 'common market' anymore, it
is about losing OUR country.

Says it all really,
doesn't it.

• Posted by: millieC • Report Comment