Since I was first elected in 2010 to represent the people of Newcastle Central, constituents have regularly raised concerns about fly tipping, rubbish, waste materials and litter. Over the years these concerns have grown as the Conservative Government’s cuts have affected services – the £320m cuts to Newcastle City Council have meant that rubbish collections, environmental services and household goods disposal have all been reduced or required a payment fee.
When out around Newcastle Central knocking on doors or visiting businesses, charities and schools, litter and rubbish regularly come up. It is an issue I have raised often with Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police, and was a topic raised and discussed at the Ward Summits I arranged.
In Parliament I also raised with Ministers the need for more powers and funding for local authorities. I emphasized that rubbish and fly-tipping was having an unacceptably negative impact on constituents’ lives
By 2017, the number of complaints across all parts of the constituency about litter issues had risen significantly.
I began to record and identify what were the problems related to rubbish, what actions were being taken and what further action could be taken to tackle the escalating issues caused by litter and fly tipping.
So, in July 2017, I compiled my first Plan for Rubbish.
This has been regularly revised and I am now publishing my latest 15 point action plan for litter , click this link to read it in full.
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