No time to be talking rubbish

What is it about Eric Pickles and rubbish? The other week, he was laying into the Audit Commission, claiming it was ordering councils to impose fortnightly bin collections, an allegation strenuously denied by the commission.
This week, he directed his ire at council publications, saying in a Sunday newspaper they were ‘weekly town hall Pravdas’, and councils ought to focus on ‘providing regular rubbish collections’.
The subject of rubbish is very important to the public. In many cases, it is the only service people associate with their council. It is especially important in districts, such as the one covering Mr Pickles’ constituency.
But does it merit quite so much of his attention as secretary of state?
His intervention, however, raises a wider question, which is the extent he needs to be telling councils what to do on an almost parochial basis, when he is apparently an ardent advocate of localism. Most councils make their own minds up about weekly or fortnightly bin collections, depending on their local circumstances, and do not need Mr Pickles to tell them about how to pick up rubbish.
Nor do they need Mr Pickles to tell them in what format to issue information to their public. In some areas, the local media is vibrant. In other areas, not. In my borough, the local media is dire, and its circulation patchy, and the Conservative-run council feels obliged to produce a quarterly magazine to tell residents what it is doing.
In all cases, the council bankrolls its local media through advertising, in particular, statutory notices, a particularly futile hangover from the past. Statutory notices are a waste of taxpayers’ money but a good source of income to local newspapers. Is that good or bad?
But the point is that Mr Pickles has a very big job trying to ensure his department isn’t cut to ribbons and in ensuring that local government, of which he is a great defender, is able to handle the forthcoming cuts without slashing services.
In the scheme of things, fortnightly bin collections and council newspapers, while handy headline-generators when in Opposition, are small potatoes for a secretary of state.
Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ