Councillors in spat over delays to bin service

Figures show the introduction of longer and more efficient routes in the city has so far cost £1.1m.

This includes £410k relating to the delay in rolling out the new routes, £300k of implementation costs, and £415k on other support costs – but Leeds Council say some of this resulted from cold weather in November and December

Following a shake-up of bin services in October, residents missed several collections and the authority was forced to bring in extra staff to clear the backlog.

Councillor Andrew Carter, leader of the Conservative Group, said the figures pointed to “a complete failure to properly plan and carry out changes to the bin routes”.

“The cost of the five month delay to the roll-out alone is staggering,” he added. “A £410k bill because the administration dragged its feet and didn’t account for the size of the task is simply unacceptable.

“As a result of all this additional spending, the savings that the council wanted to make with the route changes have been slashed from £1.4m to £300k.”

Coun Tom Murray, executive member for environmental services, said: “While it is correct that we will not be making the savings which were originally predicted from the changes to the city’s bin routes this financial year, it must be noted that the council is still on target to save the tax payer £300,000.

“In regards to the comments made by Coun Carter, I do find it a bit rich that he has attempted to absolve his previous Tory-Lib Dem administration from any blame in the council not hitting this target.”

He said that when Labour took over from the previous administration the roll out of the new routes was not ready, and this contributed significantly to the cost of the five-month delay.