The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) also suggested that proposals to prevent councils from charging an entry or exit fee for the use of the ‘discretionary’ HWRC service, are at odds with the localism principle advocated by the government.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched a four-week consultation on its plan to barr councils from charging for services at HWRCs last month (see letsrecycle.com story), claiming that charges could lead to an increase in instances of flytipping and illegal waste burning.
Responding to the consultation, which closed on Wednesday (February 18), LARAC said that cuts in central government funding to local authorities had meant that for some councils charging for services has become a necessity.
It stated: “A central tenet of this government has been the concept of ‘localism’ and the idea that local authorities are given greater freedoms to determine local issues, in consultation with local residents. At the same time LARAC members are experiencing cuts in funding not seen in a generation.
“In considering how services are provided in this environment, complete free service provision is no longer viable and the concept of certain services being paid for at the point of use is now accepted within the UK public sector. This enables services to continue to be provided to those that use them and protect other services that residents see as important.”
‘Unwelcome’
According to LARAC, changes to legislation would be ‘unwelcome’ and the body states that to date the law has worked well. The organisation added that certain charges should be permitted in order to help control improper use of sites.
LARAC’s response is the latest chapter in an ongoing debate between central government and local authorities on whether councils have a legal right to charge residents for HWRC use.
In 2011, Secretary of State Eric Pickles criticised councils in Somerset for introducing a £2 charge for residents which was labelled as ‘counter-productive’.
And in March 2014, Norfolk county council announced plans to introduce a £2 charge at nine of its 20 HWRCs – which also drew criticism from both Defra minister Dan Rogerson and DCLG minister Brandon Lewis.
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