Speaking to letsrecycle.com at the event, Ms Lucas also called on Secretary of State Eric Pickles to ‘relax’ his weekly waste collection policy and let councils decide what is best for their residents.
Ms Lucas was elected as MP for the Brighton Pavilion constituency in 2010 – and currently represents the Green Party’s only seat in Parliament.
Her unique success in Brighton was echoed in the 2011 local elections, when the Green Party overtook Labour to become the largest party on Brighton & Hove city council.
However, the local authority’s record has been overshadowed by a series of bin strikes, which have intermittently wreaked havoc on recycling and refuse collections in the city since 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).
The action has been the result of an ongoing pay dispute with the GMB trade union – which has been campaigning for a wage increase on behalf of Brighton’s CityClean operatives.
Recycling
The strikes have been coupled with a drop in the amount of recycling collected in Brighton & Hove since the Greens took charge. In 2013/14, the council’s recycling rate stood at 25% – below the percentage achieved in 2006/07.
But, defending the council’s record at the campaign launch, Ms Lucas argued recycling rates in the city have improved ‘since Christmas’. She added that the industrial action experienced by residents was a hangover from the previous Labour administration.
She said: “The bin strike was a difficult time for us but not many people know the background of that strike. The Greens inherited a problem that Labour was not willing to challenge in the past and they left a poisoned chalice.
“The council proposed an increase in council tax but Labour voted against that so all it is left with is negotiations. That’s not going to a popular proposal.
“It will take a while to build trust again. Since Christmas we can see recycling rates are going up. They are rolling out commingled recycling bins that are seeing higher usage than before.”
Funding
Asked what the coalition government could do to improve recycling across England, Ms Lucas criticised the lack of funding made available for local government – which she also blamed on the lack of food waste collections in Brighton.
She added: They [the coalition] need to increase funding for local government. We would have loved to introduce food waste collections in Brighton but we didn’t get the money to do that. We need a relaxation from Eric Pickles on the ability of local authorities to put forward the kind of collection systems they would like.”
Ms Lucas was joined at today’s launch event by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, London Assembly member Jenny Jones, and prospective parliamentary candidate for Bristol West Darren Hall.
The Greens refused to comment on their upcoming election manifesto at the event – but unveiled their ‘key campaign themes’ which include tackling climate change and renationalising the railways.
Ms Bennett said: “A really profound change is happening in British politics. The old way of doing this is falling apart. The scandals of the last few days are just a symptom of the greater malaise in the system.”
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