Refuse collection data dashboard - Sept 2015

Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability, blogs on the latest refuse collection data dashboard to be published by Birmingham City Council…

Recently we published our first data dashboard as part of the effort to be open and transparent on the progress we are making when it comes to ensuring Birmingham’s streets are as clean as possible.

I know there has been a lot of interest in our first attempt, so with this second dashboard we’ve attempted to bring you some extra data on what could be termed “environmental crime” – namely flytipping, litter, graffiti, and flyposting.

These sorts of incidents all add to the workloads of our refuse and street cleansing crews, creating a bill for the council – money we really could do with spending on other important front-line services.

It’s been reported for many years how we are having to do the best we can following severe funding cuts from central government, so the last thing we need is for people who have no respect for their local environment to carry out actions that damage where you, I, our relatives, friends and neighbours all have to live.

We’ll continue to respond as effectively as we can when such incidents occur, but it would be so much better if we all showed that we love where we live.

Keep a look out for further dashboards in the coming weeks and months.

Cllr Lisa Trickett
Cabinet Member Sustainability
Birmingham City Council

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There Are 4 Brilliant Comments

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  1. Concerned says:

    two points
    1) why does green waste collection stop so early nov isn’t the end of the gardening season xmas would make more sense.
    2) Why stop free bulk waste collection all £25 charge does is lead to fly-tipping. It doesn’t make sense. I would say give everyone one free per year or if you must charge then £5 would make more sense. its costing £500, 000 did I hear to collect fly tipping.Also why are so few people prosecuted? I have given in car registrations and was told ” we don’t prosecute”.
    ye gods its nor rocket science.

    • BCC Newsroom says:

      Hi Concerned - answers as follows:

      1. The garden waste collection service has always ended mid-November. This is not a new development - for guidance, this year the final fortnightly cycle starts on November 16.

      2. The free bulky waste collections were withdrawn in 2014 as a result of central government budget cuts that meant the council was no longer able to provide a free-of-charge service. Flytipping in 2014/15 (the first full year since the end of the free collections) saw a 12 per cent decrease in flytipping in Birmingham - bucking the national trend which saw a 20 per cent increase.

      Where appropriate, people are prosecuted - but the big issue is that there is a criminal burden of proof, rather than the “balance of probability” test that is applied in the civil courts. It is incredibly difficult to produce the evidence the courts require, but please be assured we make every effort to keep the streets as clean as possible.

  2. Anne says:

    I was very concerned when I walked along Redhill Road today . There are wheeliebins on the very narrow pavement it would be impossible to walk on that part of the pavement impossible to push a pram and very dangerous for young and old. Surely this is an obstruction. These properties don’t have a front garden surely something must be done to stop this danger

    • Press Office says:

      Hi Anne,

      All homes in the city were assessed before the roll-out of wheelie bins - so if they have bins it is because suitable storage within that household’s property exists.

      If there are any problems or concerns, we would ask people to contact us via the enquiry button at http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/wheeliebins

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