In line with many other councils Walsall Council has begun a consultation about charging for collecting Garden Waste. 13,800 questionnaires will be going to random households who have a brown garden waste bin. The results of the consultation will be used to help the design of the new service.

So why is the Council even thinking of charging for this service? Well most of you will be aware that since 2010 the council, like all other councils, has had the money it gets from central government slashed as part of the austerity measures. In Walsall’s case its grant support slashed by £160 million. The current government has said that it will continue austerity measures beyond the life of this parliament. This means that over the next two years Walsall will receive a further £25 million less off the government to run services. It should be remembered that only 17% of Walsall’s £632 million gross budget is raised through council tax. The rest comes in the form og grants from central government and a small amount of charges.

At the budget meeting in February the council agreed to go down the route of many other councils by charging for garden waste. This will bring in an extra £300,000 and at the same time gives the opportunity to provide a better service covering more weeks of the year.

So if you are one of the households picked out at random please make sure you fill in the questionnaire and return it the council before the closing date of 7th August 2017. For those of you who don’t receive a questionnaire through the post in the next few days but want to have your say you can respond online at www,walsallbins.co .uk

All the feedback gathered through the questionnaire will go into a report to the cabinet in the autumn for a decision.