City Council asked its plan to bring waste collection service to required standard before merger
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is trying to understand Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s waste collection priorities in preparation for councils merging in 2028.
Newcastle Council has been collecting food waste separately across the Borough since 2010, long before the Government made it compulsory on 31 March this year.
However, currently Stoke-on-Trent City Council is still only running an ‘opt in’ service – although it has received Government funding to provide the legally required service.
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be abolished and replaced by one unitary authority in less than two years’ time.
A shadow authority will be created next spring when the three councils plan how to merge services, as well as take on some responsibilities from Staffordshire County Council, which is also being abolished.
As part of the forward planning, Cllr Ben Simpson, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council Cabinet member for Waste, Recycling and Green Spaces, has written to his counterpart Cllr Amjid Wazir OBE, Deputy Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Cabinet member for City Pride and Enforcement, asking what progress the city is making towards meeting the Government’s required standard.
Ben Simpson writes:
The operational and financial differences between existing waste services are significant, and I am keen that they are addressed collaboratively, transparently and in good time.
A shared approach would help ensure that any future arrangements are practical, affordable and fair to residents across North Staffordshire.”
He adds:
I would be grateful for clarity on how the service is being implemented, including the extent to which it is currently operating on an opt-in or registration basis, how remaining funding is being managed, and how this relates to the Council’s plans for full roll out.
As our councils continue to consider the implications of any proposed new authority, I believe it is in everyone’s interests to work together openly and pragmatically so that residents are not exposed to avoidable costs, uncertainty or service disruption.”
This letter follows one from Deputy Leader Graham Shaw, Cabinet member for Finance, who has asked Stoke-on-Trent City Council to say what Government help it is seeking to clear more than £783 million of debt before the city council joins the new North Staffordshire unitary authority.