Nick Clegg's council axes weekly bin collections Peter Davies, the GMB's regional officer for the refuse staff, accused Mr Pickles of "double standards" for imposing cuts on the council while at the same time offering them cash to return to weekly collections. Sources close to Mr Clegg suggested he was relaxed about the decision, saying that "these decisions should be taken at a local level." But Shaffaq Mohammed, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council, criticised the council for axing the collections. He said: "Labour's decision to reduce bin collections to fortnightly and cease a key recycling service at the same time is a recipe for utter disaster. Labour councillors have thrown common sense in the bin as well as Sheffield's waste services. The council wouldn't actually save any money by going to a fortnightly bin service next year, as millions of pounds are on offer from the Government to maintain the weekly collection. Local Government Minister Bob Neill said: "Weekly rubbish collections are an essential frontline service, and every household has a fundamental right to have decent weekly rubbish and recycling collections in return for the council tax they pay. This Labour Council is treating their local residents with utter contempt by refusing even to consider signing up to the new Weekly Collection Support Scheme. "This is yet more evidence of a "bleeding stump" strategy by Ed Miliband's councils - cutting services for petty partisan reasons." The news came after it emerged that households in one Welsh council could have to wait for three weeks for the bins to be collected because of cost cutting.