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CLG secretary, Eric Pickles, came under fire at the Conservative Party conference for his insistence on councils maintaining weekly bin collections. Speaking at a fringe event, a London party member said: ‘The best thing for localism is for Mr Pickles to have no views on dustbins.' Westminster City Council leader, Colin Barrow, agreed: ‘The minute ministers say, "It's down to local government, not me," is a great day,' he said. But Mr Pickles was supported by CLG minister, Greg Clark, who was also speaking at the Local Government Leadership event. Mr Clark said: ‘Mr Pickles is not transferring his view into legislation. His predecessors would be introducing a Bill. Mr Pickles has strong views, whether about sharing chief executives or bins, but you are free to take them up or not in a way you couldn't do with previous secretaries of state.' Mr Pickles later told a Policy Exchange fringe event: ‘The remnants of a chicken tikka shouldn't be sitting around for two weeks.' Eric Pickles is considering whether to offer financial incentives for households living near proposed new waste-to-energy incineration plants as a way of encouraging councils to grant planning permission for controversial waste facilities. His offer came at a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference on waste policy, where he was asked by Sita UK chief executive, David Palmer-Jones, if he would include such a plan in the forthcoming Decentralisation and Localism Bill. Mr Pickles, who is conducting a review into waste policy, said that, in principle, he supported incentives, and that the Bill would include them to encourage more housing and travellers' sites. He added: ‘I'll certainly have a look at the proposal.' Councils face soaring landfill taxes but plans for incinerators to burn rubbish are frequently turned down by councils because of public opposition. Waste incentives have been tried elsewhere, notably by Windsor and Maidenhead RBC, which is offering vouchers to residents to boost their recycling.

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WHITEHALL

Pickles under fire over bin collections

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