This week we received the good news that we'd all been waiting for; namely that Southampton City Council's bid to increase recycling and protect weekly black bag bin collection had been agreed.
It was pleasing that when this bid was debated in the Council Chamber and during an Overview & Scrutiny meeting (on the evening of my daughters first birthday), that all political parties were in favour of the bid.
What is disaapointing is that other political parties are claiming success for this achievement. The report by the Daily Echo, with obligatory Tory quote, I thought was quite balanced for once... Namely that I thanked the other members of the chamber for their support on the principles of the bid; the support and actions in standing up for our city; and for the hard work which officers had put in over the past few months.
And we should thank the previous administration for putting in an initial bid. A secondary bid was agreed by me within the first week of being a Cabinet Member back in May. So that no one can be left in any doubt, we would still be celebrating a successful bid if the Conservatives were in control of Southampton City Council. A successful bid of £2.73 million. As you know, the bid of your new Labour administration was £8.23million.
This money will allow fortnightly, not the previously proposed 4 weekly collection of glass, and as promised in the Council Chamber. It will go some way to protecting jobs and creating some new ones. It will decrease costs and increase our recyling levels.
Times are tough, and our council will have to evolve, but it takes time to change an organisation as big as a council...and you are starting to see the seeds of that change.
