Government to Introduce Bin Taxes

‘Bin taxes are here- the government have passed legislation which allow the Government to impose new charges for household rubbish collections which received Royal Assent in December a policy, which will be opposed by the Conservatives in the Ribble Valley ’ .

Ken Hind Chairman of the Conservative Association and Longridge Councillor commented ‘Ministers have confirmed that the Office of National Statistics will classify these new charges as a tax. Although bin taxes will be trialled in a series of so-called pilots, the small print of the legislation allows the Secretary of State to roll out and impose the taxes on all local authorities by Order, without any vote in Parliament. Ribble Valley Borough Council has already refused to take part in any of these so called pilots and we reject anything which gives credence to this monstrous tax.’

‘Government technical documents reveal that the bin taxes will take one of four forms:

• Bin bag tax: Households must pay for special bin bags. Rubbish not placed in a paid-for bag will not be collected We are assuming that if the tax is in arrears ,councils will be urged not to make collections .
• Bin size tax: Households will be charged for the size of their bin; with families requiring a bigger bin paying the most.
• Weekly collection tax: Households needing a weekly rubbish collection will pay an extra charge. Green waste collection for many households in Ribble Valley will be an extra cost
• Bin chip tax: Households will receive a bill based on the weight of the contents of their bin, with microchips in the bin feeding through to a central billing database.’

These taxes will increase taxes on families in the recession ; will raise the overall council tax burden due to the costs of levying and enforcing a new tax; and will harm the environment by fuelling fly-tipping and backyard burning.’

‘The Government has stated that civic amenity sites will remain free for household waste. This will lead to the bizarre situation of families being encouraged to drive to their local dump to dispose of rubbish , adding to congestion and carbon emissions, to avoid higher taxes. The Government’s own impact assessment has predicted that, in due course, two out of three homes will face the new taxes. It is clear that if Labour were to win the general election, households across the country will be hit with these stealth taxes, on top of council tax thinly disguised with a green wash ’