Weekly bin collection plans dumped Many others are to apply for money for other purposes. Although Mr Pickles's comments related to the weekly collection, the fund is open to applications from councils which want to "increase recycling rates." Our study found: 96 councils are not applying for funds. Most of them have already abandoned weekly collections, and 58 of the 96 are Conservative authorities 34 will apply for money but only to introduce weekly food waste collections, or increase the number of homes covered, rather than bring in a full service 31 wanted money for plans which will do nothing to bring back weekly collections, including sat nav systems for rubbish lorries, more giant communal bins and even "nappy recycling" schemes two councils were in the process of ditching weekly collections - but were still applying to the scheme for funding for weekly food collections just 17 authorities which currently have full weekly collections said they would apply for money to guarantee their future. Critics said the results of the survey showed a gap between the Government's aspirations and reality - and that councils appeared determined not to offer universal weekly collections. The investigation suggests that Mr Pickles's plan would make little difference to the vast majority of England's 21.78million households. Already at least 52 per cent do not have a full weekly collection, a number which has grown steadily since Labour abolished the duty to make such collections as part of its plan to enforce recycling targets. The majority of councils now collect food waste one week and other rubbish the next, making householders separate it out into as many as nine different bins. In the Sunday Telegraph survey just one council said it was planning to bring back a full service - but at a price. Gloucester city council said it would apply for money from the scheme but in return all houses would be given smaller bins. The council has 49,800 households, the only ones in England who appear to be about to have Mr Pickles" "right" restored. The biggest single group of councils is those which will not apply to bring back the collections. They claimed there was little or no demand for a return to weekly collections. Town hall leaders said the scheme had come too late and would be a "backwards step" as the shift to fortnightly collections had forced people to recycle more. Councils also said applying was not financially viable, as authorities would have to commit to weekly collections for five years but the funding was only available for three. Julie Leigh, a councillor on Bassetlaw district council in Nottinghamshire, said that in the last three years the council had had only one complaint about collection frequency. "The money on offer from the Government is only available for three years, meaning that the cost would then have to be passed back to the tax payer at the end of this period," she added. In total 34 councils said they would apply for money so they could collect "food waste" - leftovers and scraps gathered in special bins - every week. Many had shifted to a fortnightly food collection and wanted to change to weekly collection in an acknowledgement of public concern, a partial victory for Mr Pickles. But many of the 34 will use the money to buy more of the containers, so that areas which did not have to sort out waste into different bins now would. Other councils said they would use the £250 million to change rubbish collections in other ways. Cheshire West and Chester Council plans to ask for money to extend its new dedicated weekly disposable nappy recycling service. The council is launching a pilot in the summer, inviting 56,000 households to have nappies collected every week, taken to the only nappy recycling facility in the country and turned into plastic items including roof tiles and pipes. It would use the fund to extend the scheme - even though it only picks up black bag waste once a fortnight. Every local authority in Somerset is also applying to bring in nappy recycling, while Bedford borough council wants a fleet of "low carbon" refuse lorries and South Gloucestershire council wants money for a one-off supply of compostable bags for food waste. Two councils - Durham county council and Derbyshire Dales district council - even said they would ditch full weekly collections, but still apply for funding for weekly food collections. Five councils which have applied to the fund could not provide details and one, Basildon borough council - which has a full weekly collection and wanted money to keep it, expressed an interest but found it did not meet the criteria. Doretta Cocks, the founder of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: "I do admire Eric Pickles for trying, but there was a gap between what he wanted to achieve and the reality of what the councils were actually going to do. They have just completely ignored what council taxpayers wanted, and completely ignored the problems of fortnightly waste collections. They are using this fund for their pet projects. Last night the Communities department said it was aware of "more than one" council which was also intending to bring back full weekly collections but claimed their names and the number had to remain confidential. A source at the department said: "We cannot give a full breakdown of how many local authorities are planning to do so yet as this tendering process will run until May 11." The source added: "Those councils who defy local people who want a full weekly collection will suffer at the ballot box."