HAMPSHIRE councils have insisted they don’t want to bring in pay-as-you throw levies for bin collections as the Government admitted it won’t need to put the powers to a parliamentary vote.

The deadline closes today for councils bidding to run the first pilot schemes to make residents pay for the amount of rubbish they fail to recycle.

And if successful a clause in the Climate Change Act will allow councils to adopt £50 fines without MPs voting on it.

But the revelation has been condemned by Hampshire waste chiefs who have maintained they are not interested in the scheme, which could include microchips to weigh the contents of wheelie bins.

Many councils have already introduced alternative weekly bin collections of household and recyclable to boost recycling rates.

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Councillor Matt Dean, Cabinet member for the environment at Southampton City Council, which has kept weekly collections of household waste, said: “It’s all about education and making it easier to recycle. There is no way this administration, unless compelled to by law, would look at microchips in bins.We are strongly opposed to charging people for a service they should receive through paying council taxes.

“It’s deplorable it’s not to be debated properly.”

Eastleigh Borough Council’s Cabinet member for environment councillor Louise Bloom claimed the authority already had one of the highest recycling rates in the country – 33 per cent for 2007/8 – after switching to alternate weekly collections.

“I see no need for any other measures other than the ongoing education and support we give,” she said.

Test Valley, New Forest, Winchester and Fareham councils said they were also not considering pay-as-you-throw schemes.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesperson confirmed: “If there were no changes to the provisions for financial incentives schemes as set out in the Climate Change Act, then this would not need to be put to Parliament.”

Defra has refused to say how many councils had signed up to the trials to run the first pay-as-you-throw pilot schemes.

But levies could be introduced through bin chips, special bin bags for non-recyclable waste, charges depending on the size of bins or extra charge for weekly bin collections.

Doretta Cocks, who runs a campaign from her Chandler’s Ford home to maintain weekly household waste collections, said: “It’s very worrying. It seems to me that democracy is fast disappearing.”

She added: “It just penalises the larger and poorer families.”