“Who will be responsible for clearing up this mess?”

This is the question being put to council chiefs after having reversed a decision to cut bin collections.

Wokingham Borough Council announced on July 7 that it would empty public bins less often and leave grass to grow longer as it sought to make £700,000 in savings.

Very shortly afterwards, some bins across the borough were covered with plastic liners – while social media posts showed others overflowing.

But the council last week announced it was temporarily reversing the move, admitting it hadn’t followed the correct process before pushing ahead with the cuts. It says it will now hold a public consultation next month before making any changes.

Members of the council’s Executive committee – its leading body of councillors – will face challenging questions when it meets on Thursday, July 27.

Councillor Shahid Younis will ask Ian Shenton, responsible for bin collections, how much the clean up will cost. His question says: “There are already reports of bins being covered with black bags and waste piling up around overflowing bins.

“Inevitably, this will result in piling up of litter around the streets, footpaths and children's play areas and risks encouraging vermin. Who will be responsible for clearing up this mess and what extra costs will it incur?”

And Pauline Jorgensen, leader of the opposition Conservative group, will ask Liberal Democrat council leader Stephen Conway how he will make sure correct processes are followed in future.

“Could the leader explain what he is doing to prevent council changes to key services, for example caddy liners and litter bin service reduction, being implemented without following due process and proper approval,” she asks.

READ MORE: Wokingham Council cuts street cleaning and grass cutting

The council says the cuts were necessary due to budget pressures arising from high inflation, increased demand for some services, and low government funding.

It aimed to save £600,000 over three years by reducing the amount of times it empties some bins, and clears bottle bank areas, and closing what it said were lesser used bins.

It also sought an additional £100,000 by reducing the number of times it cuts grass verges from six to four times a year.

Councillor Conway said: “The threats posed to our finances should not be under-estimated; other councils have effectively gone bankrupt and the impact of that is horrendous – services cut to the bone and Council Tax up to 10% or thereabouts. It is not a fate we want inflicted on Wokingham Borough.

“However, in our understandable desire to make these necessary changes, we did not follow the correct procedure and we apologise for that.”