Councillor asks to use Ukraine cash for dog mess

Councillor Alan Amos has dubbed a walkway between Winchester Avenue and Pitmaston Road as "dog poo alley"

A councillor has asked why ringfenced cash intended to help Ukrainian refugees cannot be spent on cleaning up dog poo and litter instead.

Alan Amos, of the Conservative Party, posed the question to joint Worcester City Council leader Lynn Denham during a council meeting on 26 March.

But he was informed the move would be "wholly inappropriate" and likely unlawful.

Mr Amos' comments come after the council's communities committee decided in January to allocate £86,515 over three years towards making Worcester a City of Sanctuary.

The title of City of Sanctuary would recognise Worcester's culture of solidarity and inclusiveness.

Birmingham, Bromsgrove & Redditch, Malvern and Herefordshire are just some of the areas that already hold the title of City of Sanctuary.

During the meeting, Mr Amos said: "Last week a large bin at the entrance to Pitmaston Park had not been emptied for so long that bags of dog poo were lying on top of it and all around it.

"When I asked why this had happened I was told the two collection vehicles had both broken down, so does this not prove the city’s cleaning and litter budgets have absolutely no resilience within them when at least this £90,000 could be used to buy another collection van?"

Ms Denham responded: "I’m not aware of the quantity of dog poo within councillor Amos’ ward."

She added the funding for the City of Sanctuary project would be provided by the Homes for Ukraine reserve grant and the Dispersed Accommodation grant.

Both grants are provided to the council by the government and both are ringfenced.

“It’s not funded from the council’s core budget and it will not create a revenue pressure," explained Ms Denham.

"Spending money on street cleansing from the Homes for Ukraine grant or Dispersed Accommodation grant would be wholly inappropriate use of that grant and one that would likely be unlawful."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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