NLWA says government will ‘take no further action’ against it

The authority, which manages waste on behalf of seven north London boroughs, says it has received confirmation from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that no further action would be taken.

This comes after the former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith wrote to the levelling up minister and former environment secretary, Michael Gove, asking him to check whether NLWA was complying with its duties as a ‘best value authority’, the authority explained.

However, the NLWA says the department wrote to them last week, 19 January, saying they will not be investigating.

Letter

The NLWA said that its officers met departmental officials prior to the letter being sent and confirmed that no government action will be taken, which the letter outlined.

The letter explained that a ‘best value authority’ “must make arrangements to secure continuous improvement and the department expects authorities to act transparently and seek external challenge and scrutiny in support of this”.

NLWA’s managing director Martin Capstick explained that NLWA is “careful to follow its statutory responsibilities and comply with its statutory duties”.

He continued: “This letter confirms that to be the case. I have thanked government officials for the time they have spent on this issue and for the considered way in which they approached the task. The authority always considered the evidence pointed clearly to this conclusion.”

Dispute

The debate started last year, when Mr Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, made “highly critical” comments about the NLWA in parliament in relation to the Edmonton EcoPark. The authority disputed these claims, which included suggestions that the energy from waste facility will be oversized and will lead to serious health implications.

The NLWA also contested the comment that other solution would be more suitable, explaining that it carried out an “extensive” alternative assessment report, which considered and rejected the same alternative proposed by MP Duncan Smith on the basis they are “small-scale and unproven at the scale needed in North London”.

NLWA serves two million residents across seven north London boroughs, including Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Waltham Forest. The local authority manages approximately 820,000 tonnes of household recycling and residual waste collected by the boroughs. The authority comprises two councillors from each of its constituent boroughs.