We recently received a complaint from one of our residents – having read in the press that Michael Gove had promised the nation free garden waste and food waste collections. She wanted to know why she was still paying for her garden waste collection. We had to explain Mr Gove was consulting on the matter and had not as yet given the council any money to pay for the service.

Like other district councils, we've been interested to see the consultation carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, looking at consistency in household and business recycling collections in England. But will the numbers stack up, in resource and environmental terms?