Government moves to take away councils power to fine people who recycle incorrectly or put their rubbish out on the wrong day will penalise people who do follow the rules, according to Friends of the Earth.
According to media reports yesterday (April 10), environment secretary Caroline Spelman plans to outlaw the use of fixed penalty notices by local authorities except in serious cases of flytipping in next months waste review.
And, waste and recycling minister Lord Henley and local government minister Bob Neill have also written to England’s councils warning them against levying charges related to their regular waste and recycling collections (see full text at bottom of story) .
These relate to areas such as requiring them to use council-provided refuse bags, and to ‘call-out’ charges when crews call at a property but waste is not collected.
Commenting on the plans outlined in the letter, Mrs Spelman said: “We want it to make it as easy as possible for people to do the right thing and dispose of their waste responsibly.
“Measures such as additional charging or petty officialdom simply make life difficult for hard-pressed families and pose additional threats to the environment from fly tipping and other socially irresponsible behaviour.”
According to the Sunday Telegraph, almost 5,000 fixed penalty notices have been issued for waste and recycling offences in the past year, generating over 215,000 in income for local authorities.
Commenting on the reported plans, Friends of the Earths senior waste campaigner, Michael Warhurst, claimed they would be bad news for council tax payers.
“Recycling costs less than landfill or incineration, so why should hard-working families who regularly recycle be forced to pay for those who don’t? he asked.
“Households shouldn’t be fined for minor bin rule infringements, but councils should be able to take action against people who persistently fail to recycle.
Labour
The reported proposals also came under fire from Labours shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh, who claimed they showed that the government was all over the place on waste and recycling and criticised the coalitions negative stance on councils work on waste.
She said: The Tory-led Government are all over the place on waste and recycling. Despite announcing a major waste review last summer we are still waiting for them to publish anything. The reality is that councils will struggle to improve waste services following the scale of the cuts imposed on them this year.
The Tories have abandoned any hope of achieving a zero waste Britain. They have nothing positive to say about working with local authorities to improve recycling and cut the amount of rubbish going to landfill.
Councils are understood to be angered by the way in which the proposals have emerged, claiming there has been little recent indication from ministers that they have issues with charges for bags and other aspects of collection services.
The plans to restrict councils power to levy charges for waste have emerged just days after communities secretary Eric Pickles slammed Somerset councils introduction of a charge for residents to use four closure-threatened household waste recycling centres (see letsrecycle.com story).
Terms of reference
The terms of reference for the waste review, which were published last July (see letsrecycle.com story) include a commitment to examine the role of regulation and enforcement in waste management, although this is explicitly linked to business waste in the document.
The government has already committed to repeal powers in the Climate Change Act which allow councils to run pilot schemes incentivising householders to create less waste, and has instead thrown its weight behind recycling incentive schemes such as RecycleBank.
Today, Defra and CLG confirmed that the waste review would explore all penalties available to councils in relation to waste collection and disposal to make sure they were “proportionate, relevant and respect civil liberties”.
The full text of the letter sent to all English local authorities is as follows:
Bin charging
As you will be aware, the new Government has been undertaking a comprehensive review of waste policies in England. The messages Defra have been receiving back from local authorities as part of the Review on how we can shape waste policy to help better ensure we achieve value for money have been very helpful; we greatly appreciate your positive and constructive engagement with the Review.
As you may be aware, the Localism Bill going through Parliament abolishes the last Governments proposals to introduce new bin taxes on top of council tax. The new Government believes bin charging would harm the local environment by fuelling fly-tipping and backyard burning, and would impose new costs on families at a time when many are struggling to make ends meet. Indeed, the new Government is providing funding to local authorities to support the freezing of council tax to help hard-working families this year, and we welcome the universal take-up of the council tax freeze over by local authorities.
During the Review process, it has come to our attention that a small minority of local authorities may be exceeding their legal powers in relation to charging householders for waste services. It is clear to us that the overwhelming majority of local authorities are seeking to provide a good quality service which delivers value for money to their customers and environmental benefits for the country. However, there are issues relating to practice by a very small number of authorities. We are therefore writing to all local authorities, even though the advice below is relevant to those who make, or are considering introducing, any charges to householders for household waste services:
Collection of waste
Section 45 (3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 specifically bars local authorities from making a charge for the collection of household waste, except in cases prescribed in regulations. The type of household waste for which local authorities may make a charge for collection is therefore restricted to those types of waste which are listed in Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations (1992). Examples commonly include garden or bulky wastes. You may not charge for the collection of any other types of wastes, nor do you have the power to levy call-out charges in cases where operatives call at the property but the waste is not collected. You should also note that local authorities have no power to reclaim the cost of disposing of these wastes from the householder.
Waste receptacles
Section 46 (3) of the Environmental Protection Act gives local authorities the power to require householders to use a specific type of receptacle for their waste.
If your Council sets a limit on the number of bins or sacks that will be collected from a single property, but allows householders to purchase additional waste receptacles, you may only charge for the cost of providing the receptacle and not include a fee for collection or disposal of the waste even if this waste is over and above what your normal waste collection system would allow a householder to present for collection.
You may require that the receptacle meets reasonable specifications, such as being compatible with your collection vehicles, but if you require householders to purchase their own receptacle, whether for all or part of their waste services, you should refrain from creating a monopoly. You may not require the householder to purchase the receptacle from a single supplier. For example, if householders are required to present waste in black sacks, they should be able to choose where to buy their sacks, rather than being restricted to official ones which are only available from the Council. Where receptacles are provided by you, you are allowed to make a charge for the receptacle, whether a bin, box or plastic sack, but you must ensure any charge covers only the cost of providing the receptacle as you do not have the power to impose additional fees to cover collection and/or disposal.
In short, councils cannot introduce backdoor bin charging for mainstream waste collections or waste disposal. Such stealth taxes are not legal and are contrary to the policy direction of the new Government.
We hope that you find this advice helpful in ensuring that your waste services comply with the prevailing legislation. You should also be aware that as part of the Waste Review we are undertaking a review of the enforcement powers and penalties available to local authorities in relation to waste collection and disposal, to ensure that they are proportionate, relevant and respect civil liberties. We are also considering local authorities behaviour on the ground and identifying best practice. Our officials are currently engaging on these points with the LGA and other key partners representing local authorities.
We are copying this letter to Baroness Eaton and Councillor Gary Porter.
Yours sincerely,
Bob Neill MP, Lord Henley
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