Andy Hall wrote:

In effect, the local authority has halved the service by reducing the
collection frequency. Have they halved the amount of money collected
that relates to this part of their service? I very much doubt it.
Did they poll their customers and ask if they were happy to have
collections only every two weeks? Who knows.

Either way, if they are going to reduce a service, they should ask the
customers first and provide an option to opt out. In other words, if
the general level of service is halved and I don't accept that, then
there should be an option not to pay and to go elsewhere for rubbish
collection.

We've just gone fortnightly too, coincident with the arrival of wheelie
bins and pavement recycling to the borough. I as unhappy as anybody
else about the fornightly collections, as our wheelie bin is reeking in
this weather despite everything being bagged up. However I don't buy
that the council has reduced its service per se, because where last
month they came round every week to collect everything in black bags,
now they come round on alternate weeks to empty (a) black wheelie
bin/paper sack/cardboard sack; or (b) green wheelie
bin/bottles&tins/textiles; which is something they've been forced into
by central government in order to meet their recycling targets.

Given that they now collect garden waste when before they didn't, you
could argue that the service has been enhanced!

David