COUNCILLORS have clashed over the cost of the bin strike that took place in Thurrock earlier this year - with ruling Conservative councillors accusing Labour counterparts of supporting the strike for politically-motivated reasons.

As reported by Thurrock Nub News earlier this month the council has put the cost of the five week long strike by environmental services department workers in April and May, at a fraction more than £109,000 – though it actually saved £194,000 in wages.

The matter raised its head again at this week's meeting of the full council when environment portfolio holder Cllr Andrew Jefferies was quizzed by Labour's Cllr Jane Pothecary.

He said: "The total cost for waste collection was approximately £109,000. This included the cost of all seven bin sites, hiring of agency staff, private contractors and the additional collections we put on."

Cllr Pothecary said the changes had been a cost cutting exercise by the Tory administration, adding: "That's a lot of money, could have paid for a lot of services. An FOI published on July 1 suggests controversial changes to pay and conditions would have saved around £800,000.

"Why in that case did the council claim repeatedly during the strike period that it wasn't a cost saving measure and would not have delivered savings?"

"Residents had to spend five weeks struggling to push their rubbish around the borough and you are still trying to catch up and get back to normal and other services are still trying to recover. Is it any wonder the residents and staff are losing faith in this administration's ability to deliver a functioning refuse service?"

Cllr Jeffries replied: "The changes to pay and conditions and the negotiations that took place were instigated by this group and what we wanted was to see some changes in the working practices, but one thing we were adamant about was there would be no loss of pay for any of our staff.

"We would not come out of negotiation the other side with a loss of pay. It wasn't a cost cutting measure it was about bringing working practises up to date to provide the best service for the residents of Thurrock."

He added: "As for the £109,000 spent on bin strikes, we wouldn't have had to spend that money if the Thurrock Labour party didn't support a politically-motivated strike to try and get votes."