The authorities were awarded Beacon status for 2006/07 at a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on Monday, the seventh annual awarding of Beacon status for local authorities.
Councils winning recognition for their recycling and waste divisions were:
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Commenting on the awards, Mr Prescott said: “I would like to congratulate all authorities who have achieved Beacon status this year. Beacon authorities help to create sustainable communities by embedding good practice across local government for the delivery of high quality public services. I hope that other authorities will be encouraged to look at what they can learn from these Beacons.”
– John Prescott
The councils given Beacon status will be given a share of the total Beacon funding of 3 million to help them share their experiences and information on best practice within other councils.
Partnerships
Among the award winners this year were two local authority partnerships – Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.
Cambridgeshire's partnership is lead by the county council and includes Cambridge and Peterborough city councils as well as the districts of East Cambridgeshire, Fenland, Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire.
The Beacon status was awarded for a strong formal partnership arrangement and a high recycling rate across the county. Cambridgeshire topped the English recycling league table for counties in 2004/05, with a recycling rate of 37.76%.
Suffolk's waste consortium was also rewarded for a strong partnership arrangement between the county council and districts Babergh, Forest Heath, Mid-Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and Waveney as well as St Edmundsbury and Ipswich borough councils.
The government also praised Suffolk's strategic vision, which takes account of all waste streams, not just municipal waste.
Councils
Within the individual Beacon status awards, the London borough of Bexley was recognised for its “comprehensive plan and strategy development process”, as well as its work promoting recycling within local schools.
Daventry district council was awarded for its strong cross-party political and officer leadership, and for its sustained high recycling rates. The district has been achieving a recycling and composting rate of around 45% over the last few years.
East Hampshire district council was particularly recognised for its achievements in collecting a high amount of dry recyclables separate from the general waste stream. The district was also awarded for its strong communications plan and its involvement of the local community in a recycling champions scheme.
Lichfield district council was recognised for its leading role in a partnership with Staffordshire county council, and for placing waste and recycling “at the centre of the council agenda”. Lichfield topped the English recycling league in 2003/04.
“Engagement”
The government paid tribute to Preston city council for its “strong engagement on equality and diversity issues” with respect to recycling and waste management service provision. The council was also recognized for an innovative food waste recycling scheme.
Redcar and Cleveland borough council was also praised for its engagement with the local community, and was also recognised in its Beacon award for an “innovative” four-day working system negotiated with unions.
The “well-developed” three wheeled bin collection system won Rushcliffe borough council its Beacon status, along with the “strong branding” of its “Recycle2Go” waste and recycling scheme, the government said.
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Sutton, the only other London borough to win Beacon status for waste and recycling along with Bexley, was recognised for high participation rates being achieved.
The borough was also praised for taking a lead role in using new waste technologies to deal with residual waste. Sutton and waste firm Viridor have built a 6 million MBT-style plant at Beddington Lane to deal with waste after recycling has been carried out.
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