A COUNCIL scrutiny committee has asked for assurances that certain standards of street cleaning will be maintained despite budget cuts following a campaign by this newspaper.
Plans to cut Luton’s street cleaning budget by £262,000 prompted the Herald & Post and its sister paper the Luton News to launch the SOS Sweep Our Streets campaign calling for a rethink.
And Luton Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board sent the issue back to the Town Hall executive on Tuesday night asking for guarantees that:
- daily cleaning outside shopping parades be continued;
- the early morning needles and condoms clean up carried out in areas such as High Town be maintained;
- gully maintenance not be reduced
- and that an increase in enforcement of regulations covering litter dropping, dog fouling, fly tipping and fly posting be provided for.
Councillor Martin Pantling, who called in the executive committee’s initial approval of the cuts, told the meeting: “I’m very concerned about these cuts and clearly so are some of our local residents and the local press.
“I fully appreciate that the council is having to make savings at the moment but where those cuts are made is a matter for discussion.
“We’ve heard a lot about cuts being made in areas of efficiency and not front line services, but this is a direct attack on front line services and the effect the cuts will have is plain for all to see.
“Street cleaning is something that affects everyone.”
Conservative Councillor Michael Garrett added: “It’s so easy to blame the wicked Tories and Lib Dems for the cuts being made.
“We all realise that cuts have got to be made but there are other areas to cut, you just won’t accept them for political reasons.
“We’ve put the town for city status and it’s not going to help our cause if people come to the town and the streets aren’t clean.”
Labour Councillor Dave Taylor, in charge of street cleaning, described the current service as being of a “Rolls Royce standard” and assured councillors that high standards would still be maintained despite the cuts.
Plans would see the percentage of streets cleaned to an acceptable level reduced from 97 per cent 87.5 per cent and response times for removing graffiti reduced.