Guidance on applying for 250m fund published

Guidance to help councils which are interested in bidding for funding from the Weekly Collection Support Scheme has been published by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The 25-page Weekly Collection Support Scheme Frequently asked questions document responds to issues raised by the councils who put in initial expressions of interest in funding, before the March 16 2012 deadline. In total, 180 expressions of interest were received(see letsrecycle.com story).

It also addresses queries raised at five workshops held by the Local Government Association (LGA) in April and provides technical advice on completing the bidding form.
The document confirms that bids will be given a preference according to a hierarchy which places weekly residual collections alongside weekly and fortnightly recyclables collections above schemes which see weekly food or organic waste collections added to an existing fortnightly collection of residual waste.

This led to concerns earlier this year that any efforts to reconcile the criteria with the waste hierarchy are half baked (see letsrecycle.com story).

Councils who wish to introduce weekly food waste collections to an existing fortnightly residual waste collection service will also have to demonstrate credible local support something which is not the case for those wishing to reinstate weekly residual waste collections.

The FAQ document says this credible support could be proven through:

• A consultation, possibly informal, with local people. That could be via a website, a forum or a neighbourhood meeting for example;
• A winning party’s election campaign making reference to bringing in food waste collections;
• Evidence of customer satisfaction on a pilot scheme; or some other similar indication from local surveys.

Bid will be assessed against three core criteria including a guarantee to introduce, retain or reinstate weekly collections of residual waste for five years; provide environmental benefits or improvements on current environmental performance; and, demonstrate value for money.

However, the FAQs explain that the weighting of the criteria have not yet been determined.

It says: The weightings for each of the criteria can only b e set once all the final bids have been received. As set out in Prospectus, the weightings will be set following sensitivity analysis, with the aim of ensuring the scheme as a whole offers value for money and delivers environmental benefits, and provides a reasonable spread of successful ids. For example, by type of bid, geographical spread, and the number of households and local authorities benefiting.

Bids will be assessed by a Technical Advisory Group to ensure they can be delivered, are achievable and realistic and that sufficient governance and/or infrastructure is in place.

The Group will be chaired by Shehla Husain (DCLG) and will be made up of representatives from DCLG, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the LGA, the Environmental Services Association (ESA), Local Partnerships (LP) and WRAP.