The important thing to remember about any Council service provided to the public is that it should be fair. Everyone should expect to receive the same level of service. Unlike customers of a commercial company, we have to choice but to pay our council tax, and therefore to option to take our business elsewhere.
The new bin scheme in the Vale of White Horse has been welcomed by many people who had their bins delivered on time, and their rubbish collected as promised. It has however caused problems for people who did not have their bins delivered in time for the collection, did not have their rubbish collected as promised, or in some cases have had their collection day changed arbitrarily by the contractor.
We must remember there was no consultation with local people about the new scheme. There are some detailed flaws with the scheme which we can hope to iron out – for example people should be given more choice to choose between having sacks or bins. The roll out itself however has been a disappointment, hundreds of people did not get their bins when they were supposed to and at least one whole village was missed out.
It is unpardonably arrogant to say, ‘we got it right most of the time’, and expect those who receive an inferior service to put up with it. Let us hope that the same people who say, its only a few people, they don’t matter are not put in charge of anything more important than rubbish collection!