Refuse collection and Council Logic
Discussion
JonnyFive said:
Our cretin council haven't taken the bins on their scheduled day last week, everyone has left the bins in the street incase they come randomly.. Still nothing. Checked the website and the date is next Tuesday, so a month without being emptied.
Bin bags are being piled up next to the bins now..
Ring them and tell them to whole street's been missed. They should come back and do it.Bin bags are being piled up next to the bins now..
Most collections are subbed out to private waste companies these days, so the council won't be aware that you've been missed unless you tell them.
NDA said:
Most of them are barely functioning cretins.
Write/email your local councillor. I did this when the prat who collects our bin decided our lane was too bumpy and that he wouldn't drive up it any more.
The issue got sorted very quickly to our satisfaction.
And for others of a similar ilk.... you do realise that the policies and procedures that are being worked to will have been settled and decided upon by the very councillors that you approach to ask them to be disapplied because of some distinguising factor that makes your circumstances unique? For all the stick councils get, it seems to get forgotten all too often that locally applied policies are set by councillors not officers, ie the guys the electorate chooses for the role that, most frequently, are the great and the good from the community. You know, the small and not so small business types, the farmers, the clever and successful sorts who have lots of opinions and know how to make stuff work... people like the critics here in fact Write/email your local councillor. I did this when the prat who collects our bin decided our lane was too bumpy and that he wouldn't drive up it any more.
The issue got sorted very quickly to our satisfaction.
TonyRPH said:
Here in Leeds, we asked for a 2nd recycle bin, because we were easily filling the one bin well inside collection dates.
There was absolutely no problem with a 2nd bin - and AFAIK Bradford council is the same.
I'm stunned at the response you're getting.
There is a difference with recycling - they earn money from recycling materials and so will collect as much as they can. Plus the more they recycle it looks better on their waste disposal / green figures.There was absolutely no problem with a 2nd bin - and AFAIK Bradford council is the same.
I'm stunned at the response you're getting.
Refuse costs them money to dispose of which is why there is a difference
Our terrace got the option of wheelie bins. We declined. We can now leave approx twice as much rubbish as the wheelie bin households.
On a general note, I fail to understand any policy designed to make getting rid of waste (especially restrictions at tips, but also regarding bins).
Surely all it does is encourage people to flytip? People don't create waste for the sake of it.
On a general note, I fail to understand any policy designed to make getting rid of waste (especially restrictions at tips, but also regarding bins).
Surely all it does is encourage people to flytip? People don't create waste for the sake of it.
Pupp said:
And for others of a similar ilk.... you do realise that the policies and procedures that are being worked to will have been settled and decided upon by the very councillors that you approach to ask them to be disapplied because of some distinguising factor that makes your circumstances unique? For all the stick councils get, it seems to get forgotten all too often that locally applied policies are set by councillors not officers, ie the guys the electorate chooses for the role that, most frequently, are the great and the good from the community. You know, the small and not so small business types, the farmers, the clever and successful sorts who have lots of opinions and know how to make stuff work... people like the critics here in fact
The policies are 'interpreted' by the so called officers. I've met some of these officers, they'd last 5 minutes in a commercial operation. Beyond thick.The policy is very simple. I pay the council to collect my bin. I don't pay for some petty little jobsworth to unilaterally decide that he no longer wants to drive up my driveway. As the 'officer' remarked "oh that's veolia, they don't actually work directly for us"
Brilliant. So Veolia have their own policy. One the 'officers' have allowed them to adopt. Policy on the hoof, determined by an idiot with an HGV licence and one brain cell.
I'm afraid you won't convince me, most local councils seem to be populated by cretins. Cretins we pay heavily for.
Pupp said:
NDA said:
Most of them are barely functioning cretins.
Write/email your local councillor. I did this when the prat who collects our bin decided our lane was too bumpy and that he wouldn't drive up it any more.
The issue got sorted very quickly to our satisfaction.
And for others of a similar ilk.... you do realise that the policies and procedures that are being worked to will have been settled and decided upon by the very councillors that you approach to ask them to be disapplied because of some distinguising factor that makes your circumstances unique? For all the stick councils get, it seems to get forgotten all too often that locally applied policies are set by councillors not officers, ie the guys the electorate chooses for the role that, most frequently, are the great and the good from the community. You know, the small and not so small business types, the farmers, the clever and successful sorts who have lots of opinions and know how to make stuff work... people like the critics here in fact Write/email your local councillor. I did this when the prat who collects our bin decided our lane was too bumpy and that he wouldn't drive up it any more.
The issue got sorted very quickly to our satisfaction.
NDA said:
The policies are 'interpreted' by the so called officers.
Why interpreted? Are they not capable of literal application on the basis of a simple reading? Or is the problem really that the policy does not actually say what you would like it to?
NDA said:
I've met some of these officers, they'd last 5 minutes in a commercial operation. Beyond thick.
Putting aside the gratuitous abuse, define 'commercial'. Most district or unitary councils are multi-million Pound operations. You might not like how the budgets are managed but they have to withstand an independent audit and scrutiny regime that is the equal of that imposed on most profit making concerns (which is what I guess you mean by 'commercial') NDA said:
The policy is very simple. I pay the council to collect my bin.
Er, assuming you mean you pay council tax (rather than for collection of trade waste under a contract), then you don't actually. You pay a tax that is imposed by statute and the council undertakes a function that it is required to undertake under a different statute. NDA said:
I don't pay for some petty little jobsworth to unilaterally decide that he no longer wants to drive up my driveway. As the 'officer' remarked "oh that's veolia, they don't actually work directly for us"
Oops, you're not going to like this. The waste collection service will have been tendered out on the basis of a spec that councillors will have approved. Chances are the service level will have been trimmed by those who know best in order to meet price aspirations. Good old commercial thinking improving public services. NDA said:
Brilliant. So Veolia have their own policy. One the 'officers' have allowed them to adopt. Policy on the hoof, determined by an idiot with an HGV licence and one brain cell.
No, not a policy, but a service level they will have contracted to provide based on a spec negotiated and approved under the direction of elected worthies. And if the driver is an idiot, then he will be an idiot retained by one of those oh so efficient commercial operations. NDA said:
I'm afraid you won't convince me
Well, at least you're correct about one thing 
MGTS said:
I have a similar problem this week as I missed the bins and so have a full bin for the next fortnight with nowhere to put this coming fortnights rubbish.
our local tip won't let you throw away food waste or nappies, so I can't even take my black bin bags (mixed waste) to the tip, and so my full bin problem will continue for a few months (as the bin men wont take bin bags that are not in the wheelie bin) so I have to store the rubbish in my garage and gradually squeeze it in to the wheelie bin over the next couple of months.
When you take black bags to the tip, how do they know what's inside them? And what are you supposed to do with soiled nappies? If they are as good as my grandson's they could have dropped them over Germany to flush jerry out of hiding in the trenches. our local tip won't let you throw away food waste or nappies, so I can't even take my black bin bags (mixed waste) to the tip, and so my full bin problem will continue for a few months (as the bin men wont take bin bags that are not in the wheelie bin) so I have to store the rubbish in my garage and gradually squeeze it in to the wheelie bin over the next couple of months.
NDA said:
Are you a bin man? Or someone else living off the council tax I pay?
I liked this bit the most:pupp said:
Most district or unitary councils are multi-million Pound operations. You might not like how the budgets are managed but they have to withstand an independent audit and scrutiny regime that is the equal of that imposed on most profit making concerns (which is what I guess you mean by 'commercial')
They are only "multi-million pound operations" because they are given multi millions by tax payers, the councils job is to ADMINISTRATE that money and ensure it is spent on all the things needed to run the area they are responsible for.The reason they are regulated and the budgets checked is because all that money coming in is easy to mis-spend and since the revenue stream is not voluntary (you have got to pay it) and will always come in it is VERY different to a commercial enterprise, who can spend the moeny coming in anyway they like and can go out of business if they spend it unwisely, the council cannot go out of business but would just keep getting more money.
My council is useless, we pay lots in and they give very little back, they seem to like big flagship schemes to "regenerate" but these cost lots and achive little. Bin collections are crap because theyhave been farmed out, so we pay for services that are carried out poorly and we are legally bound to keep paying.
Councils are a refuge for those who want to be paid lots for very little work, a product of the "I am worth it" generation mixed in with a dose of lefty "we know best" attitude. They are a good place for those who could not cut it in a real commercial environment to pretend they are heading up a big company or the link in a big chain.
Getragdogleg said:
They are only "multi-million pound operations" because they are given multi millions by tax payers, the councils job is to ADMINISTRATE that money and ensure it is spent on all the things needed to run the area they are responsible for.
The reason they are regulated and the budgets checked is because all that money coming in is easy to mis-spend and since the revenue stream is not voluntary (you have got to pay it) and will always come in it is VERY different to a commercial enterprise, who can spend the moeny coming in anyway they like and can go out of business if they spend it unwisely, the council cannot go out of business but would just keep getting more money.
My council is useless, we pay lots in and they give very little back, they seem to like big flagship schemes to "regenerate" but these cost lots and achive little. Bin collections are crap because theyhave been farmed out, so we pay for services that are carried out poorly and we are legally bound to keep paying.
Councils are a refuge for those who want to be paid lots for very little work, a product of the "I am worth it" generation mixed in with a dose of lefty "we know best" attitude. They are a good place for those who could not cut it in a real commercial environment to pretend they are heading up a big company or the link in a big chain.
You're assuming councils have no discretion on the services or functions they provide. Even services that are required by law (and by no means all are) have huge scope for local decisions to shape the way they work (or don't). Those decisions are not made by officers but by councillors. If you don't like what Cornwall Council are doing then don't vote for the councillors that make those decisions again, or stand yourself if you can do better. Your council is predominantly Tory by the way, hardly 'lefty' (although I concede they may think they 'know best') The reason they are regulated and the budgets checked is because all that money coming in is easy to mis-spend and since the revenue stream is not voluntary (you have got to pay it) and will always come in it is VERY different to a commercial enterprise, who can spend the moeny coming in anyway they like and can go out of business if they spend it unwisely, the council cannot go out of business but would just keep getting more money.
My council is useless, we pay lots in and they give very little back, they seem to like big flagship schemes to "regenerate" but these cost lots and achive little. Bin collections are crap because theyhave been farmed out, so we pay for services that are carried out poorly and we are legally bound to keep paying.
Councils are a refuge for those who want to be paid lots for very little work, a product of the "I am worth it" generation mixed in with a dose of lefty "we know best" attitude. They are a good place for those who could not cut it in a real commercial environment to pretend they are heading up a big company or the link in a big chain.
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff