Sefton Council moved to calm fears that green bin charges could be introduced as part of its upcoming budget.
The council is set to release its budget proposals in the coming days and with local authorities up and down the country facing financial challenges, Sefton is no exception.
In a recent report updating on the council’s financial position, it was stated there was a significant budget gap which may have to be filled by cuts to services.
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In September, the council announced it was dipping into reserves and emergency funds to fill an £8m funding black hole – largely due to spiralling energy costs and the increasing cost of social care and increases in school transport costs.
A further report in January warned that a return to some form of austerity could be on the cards, with a return to the “financial principles used in previous years” and with budget discussions pending, this has led to concerns at what may be cut.
A post on a Facebook group, Church Road News, suggested one of these measures could be the introduction of green bin charges – a move which proved unpopular when introduced last year by Liverpool Council – and which has already been in place in Wirral for some years.
The post led Cllr Liz Dowd to decry the rumour that introducing green bin charges was discussed at a recent Sefton Labour meeting was a “lie” and “fake news.”
She said: “Just to be clear, no charges are planned for green bin collection. What’s more these charges have never even been discussed.”
Cllr Dowd added: “Please stop this lie. Green bin collections are free and will continue to be so.”
A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “Sefton has no plans to introduce any charges for green waste collections.”
Other rumours that have circulated on social media include plans to introduce higher parking charges in some parts of the borough.
When asked about this, the council spokesperson said: “Budget proposals will be considered as part of the governance and approval process, which begins with Overview and Scrutiny Committee on February 7.” Reports and the agenda for that meeting are to be released in the coming days.
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