Redlands Liberal Democrats

Why pay more? Council cleaning service under spotlight

There is a report going to the HHCC Scrutiny Panel meeting on Tuesday on the results of a major survey of RBC tenants who live in flatted areas and receive a cleaning service in communal (estate) areas.

This is the first survey to be carried out on this Council service since 2007.

The Labour-controlled Council in Reading took the decision in 2006 to introduce service charges to make up the funding shortfall they needed to keep the Council's stock 'in-house' i.e. under Council control.

In the Lib Dems, we are concerned about the impact that charges (which will be an additional charge on top of rents) could have on tenants on low-income.

Working tenants represent about 30% of all RBC tenants. The majority of RBC tenants (70%) will have the service charges covered by housing benefit. In a recession we should not be asking some of Reading's poorest residents to pay even more in charges to the Council.

Particularly when, as we know, millions of pounds of tenants' rent goes to Whitehall and is not spent locally: something the Lib Dems have campaigned to change, both locally, and nationally.

Labour councillors wanted to introduce service charges in Reading soon but appear to have got cold feet in recent months.

One of the reasons for the delay, there is no doubt, is because officers discovered that cleaning services provided to Council tenants were very patchy across the Borough.

The report going to scrutiny on Tuesday says:

 'it is planned to introduce a service charge for cleaning services at some point in 2010/11.'

Call me cynical, but somehow I don't think Labour councillors in Reading will want to take the risk of introducing these charges before the local elections in 2010.

Any plan to introduce a blanket service charges for cleaning for all RBC tenants (which was Labour's original intention) was likely run into difficulties because it became pretty obvious when officers and Labour councillors looked into it that all tenants on all estates were not receiving the same quality of cleaning services.

Results of the tenant survey, which was completed by 1405 (49%) of 2869 tenants show that while 60% of tenants rated RBC cleaning services as good or excellent, 40% of tenants who responded thought that cleaning was 'fair' or 'poor'.

The survey also found that tenants in high-rise blocks were generally less satisfied than those in low-rise blocks.

Tenants were also asked about how satisfied they were with cleanliness of estate areas. Litter has been identified as a key concern of residents.

RBC Housing department has identified a series of actions that will be taken in response to the survey. This is positive.

I will be calling for urgent action to address concerns raised by residents - particularly those living on estates in parts of the Borough who were clearly very dissatisfied with the Council's cleaning service.

Plainly some tenants are not getting value for money for the rent they pay the Council. This is wrong.

I think it would be entirely wrong for the Labour administration to press ahead with introducing extra charges for cleaning until these basic issues are sorted out to Council tenants' satisfication.

Don't stop moving!*

So much going on both inside and outside the ward at the moment, it's hard to know where to start! I thought it was worth doing a quick recap.

It was great to be out in the ward this weekend after a week in which I spent four out of five nights in the Council Offices.

I took an afternoon off work on Tuesday to attend the Credit Crunch Summit on supporting young people and as well as two formal Council meetings (full Council and the Children's Health Scrutiny Review) I also managed to squeeze in a visit to Reading Job Centre Plus, the 47th Reading (St Paul's) Scout Group Open Day, Basingstoke Road (see pic), our regular ward surgery, and a debate on higher education funding organised by the ever-energetic Reading University Lib Dems.

The debate was of a very high standard and it was chaired by RUSU VP Education Tom Gilchrist who did a good impression of David Dimbleby - "is there a question in there somewhere?!"

There were local representatives on the Panel from Labour, the Lib Dems, NUS and Reading Youth Cabinet.

But for some reason no sign of either Rob (White or Wilson) at the meeting to put forward Conservative or Green viewpoints.

Wendy from Reading's Youth Cabinet spoke very confidentally - at 16 she was the only Panel member who hadn't yet gone to university but she certainly gave the more experienced politicians a run for their money!

No doubt that tuition fees and graduate debt are going to be hotly debated between now and the next General Election - great to see local students engaged and campaigning.

I organised a visit to Reading Job Centre Plus not because I lost my job (although no-one is immune and I don't want to tempt fate!) but because I was keen to understand better what it is like looking for work in Reading at the moment both from the point of view of job-seekers and staff.

The visit followed the Credit Crunch Summit and my recent meeting about theproblem of NEETs so helped give me a much clearer picture of problems many people in Reading are facing.

I'm really grateful to the staff of the Job Centre Plus who met me and talked about their work and the challenges local people are facing in the recession.

I was particularly impressed by staff who's job it is to support lone parents and young people navigate the complicated world of benefits, New Deal etc.

They reckon about 1,000 people are coming through the doors of the JCP each day. The Centre has been forced to take on more staff to cope with demand over the past year and more expansion is planned.

I was supposed to sit in on a group session for 18 year-olds but it was cancelled as no-one had turned up - an indicator of some young people's morale at the moment.

On a more positive note they are seeing a reasonable number of vacancies in the Reading-area which compares more favourably with other parts of the country.

Still, the number of people who are unemployed in the Reading area is a concern and it is a a particular concern that the number of 'low skill' jobs in Reading is predicted to fall by 25,000 by 2025 (something that was revealed at the Credit Crunch Summit).

Back to the ward, these are a few of the things that we've been working on on our constituents' behalf this week:

• Picked up complaints about poor streetlighting on Cintra Avenue and dog fouling in Cintra Park - we're calling for a lighting update and extra enforcement + dog waste bins
• Got extra litter picks on Hexham Road and Addington Road following complaints from residents
• Advised residents about a new planning application which has gone in for 10 flats on Redlands Road - we're meeting residents next week to discuss in more details
• Chased overdue repairs to a couple of Council properties around Hexham Road

I could do with next week being a little less hectic, having also picked up a cold!

* Reference to the fact I was forced to do Karaoke by some of my Reading Uni friends earlier this week. I would have preferred something by Girls Aloud but I was given no choice but to sing along to S-Club 7...Well, my ward is 50% student I suppose!

Local police back Lib Dem call for action to clean up University area

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of our local campaign for more action by the Council, University and Police to tackle the problem of the build up of rubbish in and around the University area.

There has been a potentially positive development today with news that the local Neighbourhood Police team is set to start issuing fixed penalty notices of £75 against those who despoil the local environment.

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have been campaigning for several years for a better response from local public bodies and we have regularly highlighted the problems of overflowing bins, skips and bulky waste dumped in gardens around the University area.

It's good to see the local media continue to report this issue which is of major concern to our residents.

Many local residents we have spoken to have backed our call for action and have helped get the message across to those who need to hear it.

The Conservative MP for Reading East and local Labour activists have both belatedly backed our call for action. It's good to have them on board.

Our lobbying has resulted in a number of significant wins for local residents which will help make the area cleaner and greener.

We recognise, however, that there is a lot more to be done before local people will be satisfied by the efforts of the local Council and the University to get on top of this problem.

We have specifically requested on several occasions over the years that the Council and the Police use the legal powers available to them to make sure that our local streets and public areas are not used as a dumping ground.

For this reason, today's news about fixed penalty notices is most welcome. These notices will need to be used sparingly and carefully by the Police but they will help get the message across to landlords and others that failing to deal with waste at rented (or privately owned) properties is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

University defends role in 'state of University area' debate

 A typical scene on Erleigh Road: excess waste dumped on the pavement in the heart of the University area

Following our recent campaign calling for more action to clean up the University area we have (belatedly) received this response from Reading University's Community Relations Manager, Ann Westgarth which explains the University's appraoch to the problem:

"I share your concern about the amount of rubbish in the area and the University, the Students’ Union, Streetcare and local residents have been working together to try to alleviate the problem. There is no doubt that some of it is generated by students leaving their privately rented properties but not all. I have just cross-referenced the list of properties that you’ve provided and 43% of them are not addresses listed on the University’s database as student addresses.

 You are probably aware that one of our approaches has been to provide students with information about dealing with their excess waste via our Moving Out packs which were delivered to 600 student households in June. In addition, the Council provided two additional waste collections on two Saturdays during the busy change-over period. These packs are hand-delivered, not just pushed through letter-boxes and those delivering them knock on doors in order to speak to students directly. Those delivering the packs include volunteer students, myself, local residents and Streetcare officers. Our experience is that many students are grateful for the information: they are often the keenest recyclers. However, this is quite a time-consuming operation. It is therefore additionally frustrating for all of us that there is still unsightly and residual rubbish around in spite of these efforts and the follow-up actions by Streetcare and Refuse Collection services. We have reviewed the effectiveness of our actions and will consider any suggestions as to how things can be improved.

 I do agree with you that much of the responsibility lies with landlords, although, again, they are not all to blame. However, the private-rented market to students is a lucrative one and what we cannot and should not do is meet the cost of clearing away rubbish that is the responsibility of the landlord of the property. When I was out recently ‘inspecting’ the area, I came across a couple of households which students had recently moved in to. When I spoke to them about the mess in their front gardens they told me about the problems they had encountered since moving in. Their bins were so full of the rubbish generated by the landlord ‘preparing’ the property for them, they had no means of disposing their own waste properly. Well-intentioned as they are, they are  renting for the first time and are unsure about how to tackle their landlord. They were as disgusted as anyone else by the mess...Please be assured that from the University’s point of view we will continue to play an active role in tackling these problems throughout the year as well as at the change-over time."

While there is no doubt that the University is taking a more active role these days in relation to issues affecting the local community, as my recent posts have highlighted we feel there is more the University could be doing to work with Reading Borough Council and landlords to reduce waste around the University area of Reading. 

We feel the University should show more corporate social responsibility - to use the jargon - or, put simply it should behave more as a good neighbour to local people.

Only recently has community relations even got on to the University's agenda, with the appointment of a community relations manager in 2006 following sustained pressure from the Lib Dems combined with regular bad press about anti-social behaviour problems.

Before this the University took a very much 'off campus - out of mind' approach which included failing to adaquately consult residents over a number of controversial planning applications on the University campus, including one to build a hotel.

Ms Westgarth, in her response above declares that 'what [the University] cannot and should not do is meet the cost of clearing up rubbish which is the responsibility of the landlord of the property'.

This may be reasonable in principle but I see no reason at all why the University could not offer some support to our already over-stretched Streetcare team either by sponsoring a skip at the end of term, for example, or part-funding a dedicated Environmental Liaison officer for the University area.

This was one of the key recommendations made by the cross-Party scrutiny review into private rented housing in Reading which was subsequently endorsed in full by Labour-run Reading Borough Council's ruling Executive.

Adopting such an approach would have the added benefit of being a relatively straightforward way of the University enhancing it's own local reputation with residents.

I would have thought some positive local press would be much sought after by the University following a series of unpopular decisions which were taken by the University recently including closing the Schools of Continuing Education and Health and Social Care.

Expecting (as the University apparently seems to) local residents, Council officers, and students to "volunteer" to be part of teams helping to clean up the University area may be cost-effective for the University but does send out the right message, as far as we're concerned, about sharing the burden of responsibility of keeping the University-area neighbourhood clean and green.

Judging by the state of some streets around the University this year and the feedback we have received lately this approach does not seem to me to be enough to ensure that local streets are kept tidy and free of rubbish.

And, the burden in terms of cost falls on to the Council and the local Council Tax Payer. In fact the burden on taxpayers is double because not only are they paying for rubbish to be taken away by the Council but they are forced to live in streets which are full of rubbish. Not ideal.

On a positive note, we are pleased that Ms Westgarth has publicly aknowledged that there is still room for improvement in relation to the University's approach to reducing waste at the end of terms in particular.

One obvious "quick win" for next year would be to ensure that extra sack collections coincide with when students actually leave Reading for the end of term.

UPDATE:

My constituent, Rebecca, who recently wrote to me and others calling for action on this issue has since responded to Ms Westgarth:

"...I am sure that you appreciate that it is frustrating for the Council Tax Payer residents to put up with living in an area that is slowly turning into a 'Student Ghetto' by the increase of HMO's in the area, who in turn ultimately pay the price, I just don't want to have to complain at this level next year and if the University can come up with a support Strategy for the Students who live off Campus and work with also supporting the Council to deliver a strategy,  I am sure that this would be greatly appreciated by the people who live permanently in the area and understand that it will not tackle the privately, non student, tenants/residents who also do not clear up after themselves.  Daisy Benson - Lib Dem Councillor has supported myself and other residents in escalating our complaints directly to the Council and MP Rob Wilson has been in contact as well and advised me that this should be prevented from happening again.

I have to admit that before getting a dog 3 months ago - never really took much notice of the rubbish as it is easy to turn a blind eye when you are not personally affected, but do hope that the University and the Council can endeavour to prevent this problem re-occurring."

Real action for the University area vs spin

 
Yesterday evening after a day's work and then a meeting in which I  chaired HHCC Scrutiny Management Panel (to plan our September agenda), I popped down to the ward to meet up with my fantastic constituent Rebecca on Erleigh Road.

Rebecca has spent the last couple of weeks chasing Reading Borough Council and Reading University to do more to sort out rubbish problems around the University area. She sent a number of coruscating emails to officers which had the effect of escalating this issue even further up the agenda.

Rebecca has very strong views about the subject of rubbish around Redlands - as do I.

I particularly enjoy campaigning with local residents and working with them to get results on local issues. This is what the councillor's role should be about - making speeches in the Council chamber - blogging etc are a relatively small part of what councillors do, quite rightly.

That said, not everyone takes campaigning for action as seriously as we do (on which subject, more later).

The Lib Dem team in Redlands (pictured) have been campaigning long and hard to get the issue of waste management around the University area on to the agenda after years of little or no action by Labour councillors for our area.

In view of this last night I was joined by my colleagues Glenn, Kirsten, Gareth all of whom have been campaigning tirelessly to get the Council and the University to work together more closely for the benefit of residents (including students).

This was one of the key issues I tackled via our private rented housing scrutiny review earlier this year.

This included a number of specific recommendations directed at Reading Borough Council and local universities to  help reduce the environmental impact on neighbourhoods of private rented housing.

These recommendations were accepted in full by the Labour administration of the Council.

Tackling the proliferation of 'to let' signs was one issue we highlighted for action which has been taken up by the planning department.

Locally, we have campaigned successfully for the first ever bottle banks to be installed in the ward, for example, and recently got the banks emptied more frequently in response to pressure from residents.

The Lib Dem team also got the Labour-run Council to change it's policy on bulky waste charging tighten up measures on environmental enforcement to try to reduce fly-tipping - a major issue around the University area.

The meeting last night follows my walk around the ward earlier this month with my ward colleague Glenn Goodall in which we identified lots of problems with end of term waste on streets around Erleigh Road.

Following our visit we made a list of all the problem properties - around 53 in the area and asked officers to see what could be done.

And, as s I blogged earlier this week as a result of our campaign Council officers has taken action to deal with some of the problems and problem landlords.

There are currently 19 houses where management of waste continues to be a particular problem and officers are working to identify the landlords of these properties as we speak.

Things are better than last year thanks to the introduction of additional black bin collections at the end of the Summer University term: something we successfully campaigned for from RBC.

However, the Council needs to ensure the collections take place at the right time i.e when students are leaving. The collections were a bit early this year. We have fed this back to officers and hopefully next year will be better.

I will also be meeting University officials soon to discuss ways in which the University can play a bigger role in keeping Redlands clean and green - and - getting the University more involved in planning future housing need in Reading, to include improving the condition of off-campus student housing.

Rebecca and I have been in regular contact with council officers via email about this issue over the past few weeks trying to find a better way.

Rebecca mentioned to me in passing that she walked her dog around Erleigh Road but that there were no dog poo bins nearby. I was pleased to be able to sort this out for her (see picture).

We need more people like Rebecca: residents who are prepared to take the Council and other bodies to task when they think that local services fall short of what they should be. After all, It's not just up to local politicians to hold councils etc to account.

We are lucky enough in Redlands to have a number of constituents who are prepared, like us, to stand up and be counted, and to campaign for cleaner, safer neighbourhoods.

In January I wrote about my constituent, Graham, who was campaigning for pavements clear of wheelie bins. We joined forces with Graham and where able to get the Council to take action.

It's great to be on first name terms with most of the residents who are like this in Redlands and to get regular emails and calls which help to keep us in touch. 

So to all the constituents who raise issues with the Council and write to us: you know who you are. Keep up the good work!

From campaigning and getting real action on the issues that matter to local people to...spin: something far less inspiring, but sadly a rather common feature in Reading politics.

I noticed a few days ago Richard Mckenzie, former Labour councillor, and Peter Kayes, former Labour councillor for Redlands ward complaining in the local press about the state of the University area.

I've tried but I'm afraid I can't remember Mr Mckenzie saying or doing anything about these issues when he was a councillor in a position to do something about it.

Dig a little deeper and there are rumours Mr McKenzie is planning to stand for election to Reading Borough Council next year in...you guessed it, Park ward (the area featured in the getreading article, and a ward with a lot of student housing, waste issues etc).

It's also a little surprising that Mr Kayes is also calling for action at this moment in time but was somehow unable deliver lasting improvements for residents Redlands on these issues during his time as a councillor despite being a member of the Party running Reading Borough Council.

Sadly this activity is not confined to one political Party in Reading.

I hear on the grapevine that Rob Wilson the rarely seen Conservative MP for our area is due to make a flying visit to the University area later this week for "a photocall".

I hope Mr Wilson's flying visit leads to some tangible improvements in the lives of local residents living around the University area although I have to say I am a little doubtful that it will.

On a positive note it's good to see politicans from other parties lining up to join the Lib Dem campaign to make Redlands cleaner and greener.

As a team, my colleagues and I have grown used to setting the agenda locally, but cross-party support for our campaigns is always welcome - particularly if it means we can get things done for our constituents more quickly. Our campaigns for better housing in Reading are a prime example of this.

However, a word of caution to local politicians visiting Redlands in search of bandwagons to jump on ahead of elections: local residents have become accustomed to understanding the difference between the real action all year round they get from the local Lib Dem team, and the spin that is trotted out by the other parties.

More local action

As regular readers of this blog will know cleaning up the Redlands area is something that Glenn, Kirsten and I spend a lot of our time on . At a Borough-wide level, our recent victory on bulky waste collections is just part of our ongoing campaign to make Reading as a whole an nicer place to live.

Picking up from where my recent post on the problem of litter left off, I'm pleased to report that the Council has listened to us and agreed to install two additional litter bins on Elmhurst Road and to monitor the area to ensure litter levels are kept under control.

In other news the Council's Streetcare has agreed to remove rubbish from Bamburgh Close, Hadrians Walk West and to carry out a deep clean on Hexham Road following requests from the Lib Dems.

A team of hardworking councillors' work is never done, however. In a busy urban area, no sooner is one issue tackled when another one rears its head.

A resident contacted me today about rubbish being dumped in an alley-way linking Hatherley Road and Donnington Gardens. I have written to the Council's HMO Licensing team asking them to investigate.

When I stood for election in 2006 this was a massive problem in alley-ways on Foxhill Road and Addington Road. I'm pleased to say my campaign for alley gates gained via Safer Reading Campaign funding successfully resolved that problem and also helped reduce opportunities for burglars and anti-social behaviour.

Graffiti, specifically tagging, sadly also continues to be a major problem in Redlands and Katesgrove at the moment, as highlighted in the Evening Post today. We have been reporting any graffiti we see as often as we can to be removed.

If you come across graffiti in your area please report it to the Police on 0845 8 505 505 so it can be logged on their database of tags. The Council will also remove the graffiti free of charge - call Streetcare on 0800 834 035.

Clean up our area!

It was one of the first issues I ever campaigned on, and  I'm sad to say the amount of litter in Redlands, and in Reading more generally continues to be a real concern both to local residents, and ourselves.

Vast amounts of money are spent by the Council, in conjunction with local business, keeping the town centre tidy to meet government targets but the areas on the edge of towns fare less well in my view.

I would go as far as to say that it is one of the top five things that people notice about the area they live in and they look to the Council to keep streets clean. It really affects people's quality of life if they think their area looks bad. This is also the reason why graffiti is such an emotive issue.

This is why the RESCUE weekend organised by the Council and highlighted by Rob White over on his blog is such a good initiative.

One of my regular correspondents emailed me today to complain that Elmhurst Road has become a hot spot for litter connected with take away outlets, particularly at weekends.

This street is on the edge of the University campus, next to a row of shops on Christchurch Road which contain a number of take aways. A number of roads off Erleigh Road suffer from the same problems.

For several years, residents objected to the location of a kebab van nearby because of the amount of litter it generated not only on the street but in their gardens.

There is no doubt, that along with being an eyesore, ever-present litter contributes to the large numbers of rats people are having to contend with. Not nice.

I have written to officers to request a deep clean and also to see if more litter bins can be installed.

Interestingly, a new report into possible solutions to Britain's litter problem co-published by think tank Policy Exchange and the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England found that simple steps such as providing more receptacles for people to throw away there rubbish make a big impact in reducing the amount of litter.

Britain lags behind other countries, such as Australia when it comes to tackling these issues. Last year the LGA campaigned to try and get the UK Labour government to do more.

Anyway, According to research done by the report authors,37% of people believe that a lack of bins justifies littering and 91% of the public believe increasing the number of available bins is the most effective way to reduce litter.

The report also has some interesting things to say about the approach taken by local authorities to tackling the problem of litter:

'Our in-depth interviews with local authority officers revealed huge variation in the application
of enforcement procedures. Some local authorities use fines very rarely and only with
persistent offenders. Others have well-trained teams who work closely with the police issuing
on-the-spot-fines as a matter of course. Interviewees generally said that effective liaison
with the Police can improve efficiency and public acceptance of enforcement.'

The Lib Dems in Reading have been actively campaigning to get the Council to use it's enforcement powers more effectively to help clean up Reading's streets and open spaces, most recently securing funding for a 'green hit squad'.

Another interesting finding from the report was:

'The amount collected from the 43,624 litter penalties issued in 2006-07 was only £1.5 million in comparison to the annual £500 million it costs to clean litter annually.32 At this rate of return litter enforcement officers would need to issue approximately 17.5 million fines a year to cover cleaning costs.'

We have asked RBC officers to speak to Reading University officials to see whether they might help part fund environmental enforcement activity around the University area of town.

Why shouldn't the University, a major local institution based in the local area take some responsibility for our neighbourhood too? I don't see why maintaining our environment should just be seen as a council problem.

This is in addition to my local campaign last year to get the Royal Berks Hospital Foundation Trust to be more proactive towards dealing with cigarette litter at public entrances to their buildings.

While I'm on the subject, failing to act as a good neighbour in relation to the local environment is something Reading Girls School could be accused of, as the saga of the fence they have refused to fix shows.

The campaign to clean up Redlands continues. Please let us know of any streets which are blighted by litter and we will do our best to get something done about it.

Rodent rage

Back in November I blogged about concern in Redlands about rats. It seems to me that the Council's pest control resources are stretched and this not helped by the high level of litter on many of our streets outside of the town centre.

Today the issue has appeared in a typically sensationalist article by the Evening Post about fears of a booming rat population in East Reading.

I was only talking about this issue earlier in the week with my colleague Cllr Ricky Duveen, Chair of the Environment Scrutiny Panel. I suggested pest control and infestation might be a good issue for further investigation by the Panel to reassure public fears about the issue.

I recall that at an Environment Scrutiny Panel in 2007 the then lead councillor for environment ex-councillor Steve Waite dismissed questions about rats and bins from Conservative councillor Isobel Ballsdon. A year earlier he had rubbished her claims about fortnightly bins.

What a pleasant man Steve Waite was and how we miss him on the Council.

A few months ago my  ward colleague Glenn Goodall requested ward level data about the rat population in Reading, but none was forthcoming from Council officers if I recall.

Let's hope there can be a more constructive approach taken by the new improved Environment Scrutiny Panel next time this issue is debate.

Cigarette litter on Redlands Road: RBH response

I have received a response today from the Chief Executive of the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, in response to my campaign to reduce cigarette-related litter at public entrances to the Hospital.

In her letter, the Chief Executive, outlines that the following actions have been taken in response to my campaign:-

1. Estates Department staff are now sweeping the Trust-owned road area up to the Trust's boundary with the public roadway at the Redlands Road entrance, and around the main entrance on Craven Road.
2. Signage displayed in the area affected has been reviewed.
3. A meeting between the Trust and the Council's Streetcare Department was held earlier in the month to discuss waste issues in general, including pavement cleaning issues.

I am pleased to hear that the Trust's management have acknowledged there is a litter problem, and have demonstrated a willingness to do something about it (in conjunction with the Council). I am disappointed however that the Trust has not seen fit to install cigarette bins at entrances.

Cigarette Litter on Redlands Road: campaign update

Following my campaign earlier this year to get the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust to take responsibility to reduce the amount of cigarette litter on its Redlands Road site, I have written to the Trust's Chief Executive to find out what action has been taken.I've noticed that this issue continues to be a problem and litter is building up even outside the Berkshire Cancer Centre, which seems wrong in so many ways.

The Trust responded in March saying that a review of cleaning arrangements would take place, while at the same time trying to place all responsibility for action at the Council, which was quite frankly disappointing.

How difficult can it be to install cigarette bins outside all public entrances, just as our pubs, restaurants and offices have been instructed to do?