Lyons moots extra rubbish tax
Tuesday, 13 June 2006 12:00 AM
People who refuse to recycle their household waste could be charged extra under new proposals to reform local government financing.
Michael Lyons is considering giving councils new powers to charge residents for how much non-recyclable rubbish they produce as a way of increasing town hall income.
The plans, mooted as part of his wider review of local government to report back this year, would also fit in with the government's plans to increase green taxation and provide incentives for people to live more environmentally-friendly lives.
People already pay for their domestic rubbish collection through council tax, and attempts to make them pay twice are unlikely to be popular, but Sir Michael insisted it was an issue of fairness.
"Why should people who don't take recycling very seriously or have a lifestyle that generates a lot of waste be able to do that when their neighbours are being very careful not to generate waste and putting their energies into recycling?" he told The Times.
Rather than telling councils what charges they have to impose, Sir Michael favours the introduction of new powers to enable them to make decisions based on their local area.
"I am clear that if people want more services, want to tackle difficult problems such as congestion, environmental sustainability and water quality.you can't just tackle those problems and say you don't want to pay more tax," he told the newspaper.
Sir Michael's review is looking at charging for the kind of waste bag used, providing discounts on council tax for greener households, or imposing penalties for those who refuse to recycle.
Local authorities have a target of recycling 33 per cent of their rubbish by 2015, and today's proposals - which are not government policy but are likely to be influential - would help them achieve this.
However, the Conservatives expressed concern that charging people extra for rubbish would prompt some unscrupulous residents to simply dump their bin bags in their neighbours' gardens, or in public places.
"We need to increase recycling, however, the danger with a scheme like this is that it will increase fly-tipping by those who simply won't want to pay the charges," said shadow local government secretary Caroline Spelman.
Newsletter sign up