The recent charges for garden waste collections are yet another Oxford City Council scandal that should in reality have us all taking to streets in protest, especially when the council’s own administration is looked at closely.

Recent figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show that the council’s own employees clocked up a staggering 10,194 days lost in sickness absence in the last financial year, which is quite an achievement for a relatively small council.

City Works, which employs those who collect our refuse, managed to account for 2,399 days of that, with the worst record of any department, followed closely by Customer Services. What is the cost to the local taxpayer of all this?

Perhaps the Labour-run council should look first to put its own house in order before imposing deceitful stealth taxes, while, at the same time, eroding the service that all residents of Oxford share in, and blaming central government cuts.

By administrative sleight of hand, not only are charges introduced, but most gardeners will have noticed that the capacity of the brown bins is not equal to the four green bags previously allowed.

So the real cost is not £35, but more like £70, given that the service level is perhaps halved, which for many residents is not far off an equivalent council tax rise of three to five per cent.

Given the shocking levels of absence at the city council, our local politicians cannot truly be serious about this, can they?

Dr Chris Clifford, Windmill Road, Headington Oxford