The Government has said their method of financing cleaning equipment is identical to the one employed by the GSD.

A spokesperson for the Government said: "Mr Hammond’s now infamous devious inaccuracies strike again. In his latest statement, the GSD’s environment spokesman once again deliberately spins facts widely. The Government is being entirely consistent with what it stated recently: that the streets are cleaner and that with tweaking it will be improved further. This is the logical approach, working with the new contractor, with the experience it is now acquiring, to improve delivery further. 

"The new cleaning contract is a considerable improvement on the GSD’s old one. What it did not envisage was that the existing equipment would have had to be replaced so soon. However, the method of financing equipment is identical to the one employed by the GSD with Master Service. This was additional to their own contract, and dealt with by way of loan in exactly the same way as is envisaged now. Mr Hammond’s criticism, were it valid, would be just as valid during the days that his party was in Government."