Stockport council's bin boss has hit back at critics after one councillor said the local authority's response was 'an absolute joke'. Councillor Jake Austin said they were delivering what people want by increasing collections.

Towards the end of July, Stockport Council began enforcing a long-standing rule around not collecting any bins that had the lids open. The local authority said this was to ensure the safety of bin crews based on manufacturer guidance.

However, council officers appeared to not tell anyone the change had taken place, even top councillors. As the public did not know about the enforcement, hundreds of bins were not collected prompting major backlash.

Those issues appear to have largely been resolved and last week, the council's Liberal Democrat-administration announced major changes are coming with more collections to start later this year. From the beginning of December 2026, blue bins for paper and cardboard recycling will be collected every two weeks instead of every four weeks across Stockport.

The council moved to four weekly collections due to financial pressures on its budget for day-to-day services in 2025. Opposition parties have overwhelmingly welcomed the move but questions remain.

Earlier this week, the council's deputy leader councillor Jilly Julian faced questions over the finances. A report briefing elected members said more people paying for garden waste collections than expected had allowed the council to increase blue bin recycling and coincided with increased feedback as a result of the controversy.

At a further scrutiny meeting, cabinet member councillor Jake Austin faced questions over the operational decisions behind the service and why they were made. Cllr Austin said the feedback they had received from residents had been they wanted blue bin collections to increase and it was important for the council to respond to that.

Due to the improved financial position within the department, he said this allowed the council's cabinet to be flexible and reach a decision quickly. This, he said, meant the council was able to bring in the changes before the Christmas period.

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Responding to the criticism from the opposition around how the decision was made, Cllr Austin said: "I find it quite difficult to reconcile everybody welcoming the decision while at the same time the decision was taken too fast.

"I think I as a resident and many of us around this table would rather our council be making decisions quickly to rectify the issues our residents are facing."

However Labour councillor Claire Vibert said it was their job to make sure 'decisions are properly made with clear transparency around how they are done', arguing the council's argument did not 'hold water' as green bin permit charges were 'designed as a money making scheme' and not to cover the costs of the garden waste service. She also raised concerns the money generated from permits might no longer be used for other services like homelessness.

Edgeley Community Association councillor Asa Caton slammed Cllr Austin for his response as 'absolutely preposterous', adding: "To sit there and say we listen and to sit there and say we acted quickly is an absolute joke." He argued the council acting quickly would have been responding last month.

Cllr Austin said the council was previously in a tough financial position and had to make cuts but things had improved a little, adding: "Circumstances do change and responsible administrations respond to the changes that do happen."

The cabinet member was also supported by Cllr Joe Barratt, who switched to the Liberal Democrats from Labour. He said: "Criticism is made of the administration not acting fast enough and when it does actually take action as it has on this matter […] it feels a little bit like politicking."