Caroline Spelman reacts to new evidence of Labour's plans to hit family homes with bin taxes and yet more cuts to local frontline services.
Government documents recommend the introduction of widespread bin charging for households and more ‘restrictions’ of households waste collections as part of the Labour Party’s plans to introduce new ‘landfill bans and restrictions’.
Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats have backed these bin taxes, and Liberal Democrats are already rolling out monthly rubbish collections following calls to do so from the Government’s bin quango.
Caroline Spelman, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said there is now "overwhelming evidence" that the Labour Party is planning to "hit family homes with bin taxes and new wave of bin cuts".
Labour Ministers have already changed the law to allow bin taxes to be imposed across the country without a vote in Parliament; Labour MPs have backed the taxes; and Labour’s fourth term local government manifesto has called for more bin cuts.
"If Gordon Brown can cling to power, his bin bullies will impose monthly rubbish collections and make life even harder for hard-working families", she said. "Liberal Democrats back Gordon Brown’s plans for bin taxes and monthly collections, despite the extra fly-tipping and backyard burning".
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Bin taxes are a ‘supporting instrument’ says Whitehall: New documents uncovered by Parliamentary Questions have revealed detailed studies to implement the Government’s ‘waste strategy’. Having analysed practices abroad, the plans urge "effective supporting instruments" of "pay as you throw/variable charging" for households as a "conclusion" for "UK policy". Labour Ministers have already changed the law to allow bin taxes to be imposed across the country without a vote in Parliament; Labour MPs have backed the taxes; and Labour’s fourth term local government manifesto has called for more bin cuts.
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Nick Clegg’s LibDems want bin taxes on families: Liberal Democrats actively support the introduction of bin taxes, with their frontbench spokesman advocating "bin charging" and "councils to charge for waste by weight". Official policies urge "variable waste charging" and "councils should have more leeway to raise service charges."
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More bin fines for unfair bin rules: The new Government research also urges more "constraints" upon "residual waste quantities". This is to be achieved by more "no side" waste collections, where bin bags next to wheelie bins are not collected and families are unfairly fined as fly-tippers; by greater use of "flat lid" policies, where households are fined if their wheelie bin is too full and the bin lid cannot close; and by less frequent rubbish collections.
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Moves towards monthly bin collections by 2011: In an ominous sign, the new policy recommendations from the Government bin quango, WRAP, says that household rubbish should be "collected no more than fortnightly in wheeled bins". This raises the prospect of collections less than fortnightly. In 2008, the same bin quango asserted that monthly rubbish collections were "inevitable" and monthly collections would begin "in the next three to five years."
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Monthly collections already being rolled out: These predictions were accurate. Monthly collections are now being introduced in the UK. Liberal Democrat and SNP run Fife Council (Gordon Brown’s own backyard) has already piloted these so-called "four weekly" collections, and is rolling out monthly collections council-wide from October 2010. Liberal Democrat frontbencher, Jo Swinson, has supported the monthly collections and has attacked the retention of a weekly service.
Spelman said the Conservatives will "scrap these Lib-Lab plans for bin taxes". "Instead, we will reward families for recycling and going green, and will work with councils to bring back proper weekly rubbish collections".
"This is a clear choice at this election: Conservatives who will help bring back weekly collections, Labour who imposed fortnightly collections, or Liberal Democrats who are already forcing through monthly bin collections."