Having recently had an enquiry seeking an assurance that the City Council will not, in these times of financial challenge, remove its provision of free "dog bags" to allow dog owners to clean up after their pet, I contacted the Director of Environment at the council to seek his assurances.
He has responded as follows :
"As a department we are looking at all opportunities for future savings and I am aware that this possible option has been discussed internally. I can confirm that we have no plans to remove this provision at present."
I am pleased to have received such an assurance as the provision of these bags greatly helps in the effort to reduce the amount of dog fouling left on the city's pavements, parks and other open spaces. I would have viewed any proposal to remove this free service as hugely counter-productive, so the confirmation that the dog bag service, available at many council facilities such as libraries, will continue is reassuring.