News1 min ago
What Is Council Tax For?
66 Answers
Genuine question, I have no idea.
I always thought it was for the upkeep of the roads, taking away our rubbish, the police, etc?
I have just had a conversation with a lad on the bins. I left some black bags outside, because I had SO much rubbish over the weekend, I couldn't fit it all into the one wheelie bin I have. He emptied the bin, but walked straight past the bags and onto the next house.
I went outside in my pj's and asked him if he could take the bags, but he said "sorry darling, I'd love to, but I could get the sack".
I asked why and he said that (and I quote) " it costs them £1100 to empty the truck, and if we get caught taking bags we'll get the sack".
Firstly, £1100??!! Is that each time? Surely not!
Secondly, I thought that's what council tax covered? This is a family household and sometimes, just sometimes, we will have more rubbish than what fits into one single wheelie bin - especially at this time of year.
I explained that they were now soaking wet and that I couldn't take them to the tip myself as they would stink! He had a quick look around, and then threw them all into the back of the truck. Bless him.
He said if I had any in the future, to "leave them behind the wall, not on the pavement because if someone from the council saw them and then saw they had gone, they'd be in trouble".
So, what am I supposed to do if I have more rubbish that what fits in the one wheelie bin I have?
Why can't they take bags? Is it because it costs so much to empty the truck? I thought council tax covered this? If not, what does it cover? I can't remember the last time I saw a road sweeper, or a bobby on the beat. Last time I saw a rozzer was when he gave me a parking ticket last week!
I always thought it was for the upkeep of the roads, taking away our rubbish, the police, etc?
I have just had a conversation with a lad on the bins. I left some black bags outside, because I had SO much rubbish over the weekend, I couldn't fit it all into the one wheelie bin I have. He emptied the bin, but walked straight past the bags and onto the next house.
I went outside in my pj's and asked him if he could take the bags, but he said "sorry darling, I'd love to, but I could get the sack".
I asked why and he said that (and I quote) " it costs them £1100 to empty the truck, and if we get caught taking bags we'll get the sack".
Firstly, £1100??!! Is that each time? Surely not!
Secondly, I thought that's what council tax covered? This is a family household and sometimes, just sometimes, we will have more rubbish than what fits into one single wheelie bin - especially at this time of year.
I explained that they were now soaking wet and that I couldn't take them to the tip myself as they would stink! He had a quick look around, and then threw them all into the back of the truck. Bless him.
He said if I had any in the future, to "leave them behind the wall, not on the pavement because if someone from the council saw them and then saw they had gone, they'd be in trouble".
So, what am I supposed to do if I have more rubbish that what fits in the one wheelie bin I have?
Why can't they take bags? Is it because it costs so much to empty the truck? I thought council tax covered this? If not, what does it cover? I can't remember the last time I saw a road sweeper, or a bobby on the beat. Last time I saw a rozzer was when he gave me a parking ticket last week!
Answers
Rather than give you the lowdown on how my council deals with my rubbish I’ll try to answer your question, “What is council tax for?” In the last financial year my local authority spent £631m. Of this, £268m was spent on children’s and education services, £133m on Housing services and £110m on adult social services. So, about 81% spent on these...
16:04 Thu 20th Dec 2012
"if we get caught taking bags we'll get the sack"
so to speak :-)
It probably depends where you live and who collects the rubbish. Our rubbish is collected by council rubbish collectors and they'll take whatever you leave out provided it's deemed safe to handle. Otherwise you can always take stuff to the local tip, where they will dispose of it for you
so to speak :-)
It probably depends where you live and who collects the rubbish. Our rubbish is collected by council rubbish collectors and they'll take whatever you leave out provided it's deemed safe to handle. Otherwise you can always take stuff to the local tip, where they will dispose of it for you
I sympathise with you. Whilst Cazz has given an option it does mean more traffic more pollution more of your time more of everything, but it gets rid of the issue for now. Yes I wonder why we pay this too and what they spending it on. He who pays the piper should call the tune, except it's not a voluntary payment but one forced out of you so your opinion becomes worthless to them. In my youth we got weekly bin collections and your street lights on all night (not just the lights in the next street while yours are turned off) and decent roads. I thought we paid for the services we wanted, and if there was any left after that (and there ought not be) then one could think about doing good deed s for the local community, but apparently not. We just get milked, they do what they want without having to account for it.
""if we get caught taking bags we'll get the sack"
so to speak :-) "
Lol. Very good :-)
Well, I assume it's the council that collects it. I don't know actually. I will have to find out.
Cazz, I did ring them when I first moved in, because we had two where we used to live... along with extra recycling bins.
I was told "we only supply single households with one bin. We only provide multiple bins if the houses have been made into flats". That's ridiculous though.
In my old house, there was a house next door, which had been turned into two flats and they had two whole wheelie bins and SIX recycling bins between just two individuals. They were never even half full.
so to speak :-) "
Lol. Very good :-)
Well, I assume it's the council that collects it. I don't know actually. I will have to find out.
Cazz, I did ring them when I first moved in, because we had two where we used to live... along with extra recycling bins.
I was told "we only supply single households with one bin. We only provide multiple bins if the houses have been made into flats". That's ridiculous though.
In my old house, there was a house next door, which had been turned into two flats and they had two whole wheelie bins and SIX recycling bins between just two individuals. They were never even half full.
There is a dire shortage of landfill sites - not surprising would you want one in your area.
Consequently there's a big drive to hit recycling targets and as part of that some councils are getting tough over the amount of landfill waste they're collecting from people.
There is a huge variation across councils on what their recycling arrangements are so without knowing that it's hard to comment.
Personally speaking with a familly of 4 we have a recycling bin and a landfill one and alternating weekly collection of each type and the bins are generally pretty full but haven't yet been oververflowing into seperate bags.
If they were refusing to take extra recycling I'd feel justified in complaining
Consequently there's a big drive to hit recycling targets and as part of that some councils are getting tough over the amount of landfill waste they're collecting from people.
There is a huge variation across councils on what their recycling arrangements are so without knowing that it's hard to comment.
Personally speaking with a familly of 4 we have a recycling bin and a landfill one and alternating weekly collection of each type and the bins are generally pretty full but haven't yet been oververflowing into seperate bags.
If they were refusing to take extra recycling I'd feel justified in complaining
Well it seems that I will have to take it to the dump myself, or hide it behind the wall in the hope that that particular lad is working and will take the bags.
I often have more than I can fit into the wheelie bin, and I do recycle too.
It's just not always convenient or practical to take the bags to the dump.
More often than not it's been raining, so they get soaking wet. Also, last week I had to go out in the rain and pick up the contents of the bag after a bloody cat/fox had ripped it open. There were baked beans all over the sodding place!
I often have more than I can fit into the wheelie bin, and I do recycle too.
It's just not always convenient or practical to take the bags to the dump.
More often than not it's been raining, so they get soaking wet. Also, last week I had to go out in the rain and pick up the contents of the bag after a bloody cat/fox had ripped it open. There were baked beans all over the sodding place!
That's not sarcasm aelmpvw. Indeed some do just that. For a time I had $%^%^&$ regularly dumping stuff on my garage forecourt. Once even a load of tar: obviously someone must have been paid to take it away after being dug up and just dumped the problem on me. It was clear just down the road what part of the pavement had been dug up, but there was no way to prove it was the owners of the related property. Made me very depressed, almost could not cope with it at the time, but for my woman helping me. What with councils not fulfilling their responsibilities and scum dumping on decent folk, it makes one wonder why one bothers sometimes.
believe it or not council tax does cover things besides the dust cart! Anyway the cost of landfill is a effectively a tax on local authorities to encourage recycling. Ther are various schemes throughout the country some better than others but basically they illicit the householders help to separate what can be recycled and what has to go to landfill. In my area we have a big bin for recyclable stuff and a small bin for the rest, we also have, optionally, a green bin for garden waste. Our council actually make a fair bit from the garden waste and recycling, enough to cover a fair chunk of landfill costs. May I ask what system your council has? ie were the extra bags purely waste of recyclable?
Thank you Jake-the-peg. If I hadn't already awarded best answer to Old_Geezer, you would have just got it :-)
That's the thing though, I do recycle absolutely everything I possibly can. That's why it's so annoying that on the odd occasion I do go over, by a bag or two, that they are saying they can't/won't take it.
The only thing I refuse to recycle is food waste. I had an incident with a face full of flies, in the summer, and I can no longer bring myself to do it.
That's the thing though, I do recycle absolutely everything I possibly can. That's why it's so annoying that on the odd occasion I do go over, by a bag or two, that they are saying they can't/won't take it.
The only thing I refuse to recycle is food waste. I had an incident with a face full of flies, in the summer, and I can no longer bring myself to do it.
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