York residents could soon be charged for garden waste collections as the cash-strapped council battles to make savings.

A City of York Council report has outlined ‘a serious financial position’ with a forecasted overspend of £11.4million in the 12 months to March 31 next year.

The reports says between £720,000 and £1.5 million could be raised by the council if people are charged for single green bin collections.

The service is currently free for collection of a single green bin.

Garden waste can also be disposed of at recycling centres in Hazel Court and Towthorpe.

Liberal Democrat councillors claimed the proposals could mean more car journeys to such sites, or risk green waste going into black bins, or being disposed of illegally and called on the current administration to take a step back from the plans.

Liberal Democrat environment spokesperson Cllr Paula Widdowson said: “At a time when many households are struggling to make ends meet, it beggars belief that Labour is planning this new tax bombshell.

“Labour planned to charge for green bin collections when they were last in power in York, so I suppose it comes as no surprise that they are trying again.

“Many residents who voted Labour will feel badly let down – not only are they failing to deliver on many of their promises such as free school means for all primary children, but they are now introducing policies that weren’t even in the manifesto!"

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Labour executive member for finance, Cllr Katie Lomas said: “York Liberal Democrats should question why their colleagues running almost 95 per cent of Liberal Democrat councils up and down the country charge for green waste collections up to £75 per bin, while their preference here in York was to cut services to children and vulnerable adults instead.

"This is total hypocrisy from a group of politicians who managed the council’s finances as though they wouldn’t be around to worry about the consequences, which has proven to be the case. 

“The changes being made now are extremely difficult, but they are essential if the council is to avoid issuing a legal notice to say it can’t fund running its services in future, as other councils have done."

The report recommends that the council examines green waste charges similar to those introduced by North Yorkshire Council - a £43.50 annual fee for a once a fortnight single green bin collection.

A single green bin subscription was one of a range of proposals put to fill the financial shortfall, alongside a request for executive approval on immediate measures to increase car parking charges and freeze recruitment.

The report said garden waste collection and disposal is a non-statutory service that councils can charge for and, whilst the service is valued by residents who produce green waste, it is not essential.

St Nicks, a York-based charity which develops projects and services for sustainable communities, advised that many people can compost garden waste at home, even on small spaces like balconies and that there are affordable self-contained systems on offer.

Residents in the Selby area, under North Yorkshire Council, will pay £29 for green bin collection from this month to March 2024 as the charge was introduced part-way through the year.