9 February - £5 garden waste hike was tolerated last year so the reward is £10 this year and next
The Places Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting along with
its Sub Group dedicated to Transport Users
is probably the most interesting of Bexley’s public meetings because they usually have something for everyone.
Councillor Cameron Smith (Conservative, St. Mary’s & St. James) makes a good job of chairing both.
Last Tuesday ‘Places’ was mainly about price increases and the need to balance the budget with unpopular ones.
Councillor Philip Read (Conservative, West Heath) asked the first question having spotted on Page 17 of the
Draft Budget Report the note that Parking Enforcement had overspent by
£447,000 and issued 4,933 tickets in November 2024. The figure that concerned
Philip was that the figure for tickets per patrolling hour had reduced compared to
the previous month by 0·07. He said it was “significant. Has the cause been identified?”
He was also concerned about an increase in the number of reports of domestic abuse. 64%
more victims had been rated as being at serious risk. It transpired that the 64% was over
nearly six years so it was easiest to blame Covid, “but the figures have not dipped since”.
The PCN answer was that the figures are always “volatile” month by month. The
Council’s emphasis was on trying to get the contractor out on the road more often.
Cabinet Member Richard Diment
(Conservative, Sidcup) was proud to announce that Bexley has the lowest
rate of successful Adjudicator Appeals in London.
Responding to a question from Councillor June Slaughter
(Conservative, Sidcup) about Planning Department job
vacancies Deputy Director Jane Richardson said that the Labour Government is
planning to introduce a very “considerable” hike to planning fees.
Councillor Slaughter also asked about the increasing cost of running the
Highways Department and was told it was very difficult to recruit good Highways
engineers. Everyone who rides around the borough will be able to vouch for that.
Councillor Anna Day (Labour, Slade Green & Northend) asked why some parking charges were going up far in excess
of the inflation rate. There was no answer.
Councillor Mabel Ogundayo (Labour, Thamesmead East) said that Bexley was the only London borough with no
housing stock which was also underspending its housing budget. “How does that
ensure that residents don’t end up homeless? Is there going to be increased
housing for Ukrainian and Afghanistan refugees?”
She was told that the underspend comes about by trying to avoid emergency
accommodation. Helping people with rent arrears is a cheaper option. The Ukrainians
refugees figure was not available but “it is measured in hundreds”, The number
of Afghan families is small but they are looking for six, seven or eight bedroom
houses so they will generally go outside of London.
Mabel said that the cost of the garden waste service is increasing by another tenner and
surrounding boroughs are cheaper except Bromley by £1 but unlike Bexley their
price is not increasing in April. “How is that justified?”
There was an unconvincing response from the Waste Manager about the other
boroughs having “different collection methodologies” . Bexley has fewer missed
collections and she was “confident that the new position [on price] would be very positive”.
Cabinet Member Diment came to her rescue by saying that different Councils operate in different ways.
Greenwich is massively increasing CPZ charges, Bromley is taking away Blue Badge
parking concessions and in Bexley the gardeners are to be hammered. [Not an
exact quotation.] It doesn’t help, he said, that the Labour Government has awarded Greenwich twice the level of
National Insurance contribution support than for Bexley. Punished for being Conservative.
Deputy Leader Leaf had something to say about this too. Additionally, after
years of suffering under a disadvantageous Government Grant formula the new
Government has announced that it is to be made worse for Bexley. Its share is going down.
If gardeners were not attacked it would have to be someone else and after it was
announced last year that prices would be raised for as long as residents continued to
meekly pay up. Most continued to do so. (Not me!)
A fiver last year, a tenner this year. Residents effectively asked to be mugged.
Ominously Councillor Diment implied it will go up by another £10 in 2026.
I was pleased to note that Councillor Diment
did not repeat the lie that
Bexley’s brown bin tax is “among the lowest in London”. Not easy to repeat when the
meeting Agenda helpfully included a table which showed that of London’s 32 boroughs
only nine are more expensive than Bexley. The majority remain free. Next
year the figures will be worse.
Councillor Sally Hinkley asked about improving food caddy collection rates in
flats in particular and the Waste Manager came up with her usual complacent
waffle about being “confident” and “ahead of the game” and the answer lies in recruiting more managers.
The waste vehicle fleet is coming up for replacement and the options are being
examined. Refurbishment, electric, the balance between different vehicle
collection types, etcetera. The cost could be in the region of £8 million.