Council admits error over 'underused bins' claim

A council has admitted making an error after saying it had removed "underused" public bins in a historic city.

In August Cambridge City Council was criticised after it said a small number of bins had been taken away as part of a trial aimed at ensuring they were "in the right place, are the right size and are emptied at the right frequency".

But the council now said this was "incorrect", adding: "No underused bins have been removed to date."

Tim Bick, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition to the Labour-run council, said in August he felt the authority's move was "pretty dangerous".

A council spokesman said it was currently reviewing the provision of bins across Cambridge.

In response to the mistake, Bick said the council had cut staff emptying the bins by more than 20% this year.

"This is exactly the shrink-flation of services I've been talking about, which wasn't what Labour bosses promised," he said.

As well as the mistake on the underused bins claim, the council also admitted making an error in a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) response to a member of public in which the authority said zero waste was recycled from public bins in Cambridge city centre.

"Part of a previous FOI response was also inaccurate," a council spokesman said.

"We apologise for these errors and are working to improve internal checks surrounding such requests," he added.

The spokesman said some city centre bins were serviced by refuse vehicles with a division, separating recyclable and general waste, which is then taken to a Thalia-run facility in Waterbeach.

"Thalia process and sort recyclable content from the mixed recycling stream in line with their regulatory requirements," the spokesman added.

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