All 3 Petitions debates in the Commons on 4th Jun 2014


Wed 14th May 2014

House of Commons (10) - Commons Chamber (7) / Petitions (3)

House of Lords (9) - Lords Chamber (9)


Thu 5th Jun 2014
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Petitions

Wednesday 4th June 2014

(9 years, 11 months ago)

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Wednesday 4 June 2014
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Green Bins in South Gloucestershire

Wednesday 4th June 2014

(9 years, 11 months ago)

Petitions
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The Petition of residents of Kingswood,
Declares that South Gloucestershire Council is now charging residents £36 per year for the collection of their green bins and further that a local Petition on this subject has received over 4,200 signatures.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to encourage South Gloucestershire Council to reconsider this decision and not implement a charge for the collection of green bins.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Chris Skidmore, Official Report, 29 April 2014; Vol. 579, c. 792.]
[P001344]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government; received 3 June 2014:
Prevailing legislation allows for councils to charge for discretionary services, such as the collection of garden waste. However, Ministers believe that councils should not be introducing stealth taxes by imposing new charges on local residents. Instead, councils should be making sensible savings by better procurement, more joint working and cutting fraud, in order to protect frontline services and keeping council tax and charges down. A range of practical ways to cut costs is outlined in the Department’s best practice guide, “50 ways to save”.
The Secretary of State endorses the Petitioners’ suggestion that the council reconsider its actions in imposing these new charges.
Such charges also threaten to increase fly-tipping, increasing clean-up costs for the council and harming the environment. Indeed, recent research by the University of Kent has found that the adequacy of garden waste collection was significantly related to fly-tipping behaviour. Respondents reporting that garden waste collection was not adequate were more likely to have admitted to fly-tipping compared to respondents reporting that this service was adequate for their household needs.
As outlined in the answer of 14 May 2014, Official Report, column 646W, this Government have taken a series of steps to work with councils to support regular and comprehensive rubbish and recycling collections, as well as the stop the imposition of bin taxes and backdoor charges on the collection of residual waste.
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Extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington

Wednesday 4th June 2014

(9 years, 11 months ago)

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The Petition of residents of the United Kingdom,
Declares that the Petitioners believe that the extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington is a vital, yet missing, part of the region’s transport system, and further that such an extension would make a significant contribution to the economic development of the town.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Secretary of State for Transport to seriously explore the feasibility of extending the Tyne and Wear Metro to the town of Washington, utilising the old Leamside railway line.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Mrs Sharon Hodgson, Official Report, 6 May 2014; Vol. 580, c. 122.]
[P001346]
Observations from the Secretary of State for Transport, received 21 May 2014:
My Department is supporting Nexus in delivering an 11-year programme of works to renew and improve the Tyne and Wear Metro. This work is being funded with up to £350 million of grant from DFT and includes refurbishment of the Metrocar fleet, modernisation of 60 stations, and new communications systems. Nexus is also overhauling and maintaining structures such as bridges and tunnels, track and overhead power lines, as well as modernising other infrastructure and technology including new “smart” ticket machines, gates at key stations and back office equipment, part funded using a further tranche of Government grant amounting to around £15 million.
Further improvements, such as replacement of the fleet and expansion of the Tyne and Wear Metro will be considered by Nexus as part of its planning for the next phase of work, for the period after 2021. This work has commenced and I understand that an extension to Washington is one of the areas which is being looked at as part of this.
The work Nexus is carrying out on options for the future includes a comprehensive analysis of factors including network integration with land use and other modes, future technologies and funding.
The Initial work programme to develop an outline business case will take about two years and be subject to local support and development costs being met.
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