League tables won’t compare bin charges

A NEW initiative to measure the performance of local authorities won’t even allow householders to compare charges for bin collections with other areas around the country.

The exact amounts of refuse charges, commercial rates and development levies in different counties won't be shown in the so-called 'local authority league tables', relaunched by Environment Minister Martin Cullen yesterday. But the new system will allow the public to compare information such as the opening hours of libraries and the number of working days lost to sickness by local authority staff.

From March of next year after the local elections householders will be able to evaluate the performance of their local authority under 42 separate headings and compare the results with others.