85 councils win weekly waste funding from DCLG

A total of 85 local authorities will hear later today (November 22) that they have been successful in their bids for financial support for funding from the 250 million weekly collection support scheme fund set up by Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government.

The funding will to help provide or keep some form of a waste collection service on a weekly basis for 6.2 million people, according to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

The CLG department received 130 bids covering a range of projects related to weekly waste from all parts of the UK. A total of 90 projects will go ahead, as some of the 85 councils are to receive funding for more than one scheme.

Speaking exclusively to letsrecycle.com today (November 22), Brandon Lewis, under secretary of state for communities and local government, said his department was very pleased with the range of bids submitted by local authorities.

We have got these bids which have come in from a wide range of councils across the UK. They range from residual collections, weekly food waste collections, rewards schemes, incentive schemes a whole range of schemes.

Weekly

And, he confirmed that in terms of weekly services, there are weekly food waste collection programmes in with other schemes.

Referring to the issue of whether the schemes will bring back weekly waste services specifically, Mr Lewis, who has a background in local authorities as a former Brentwood councillor and leader, said: There is a sense that the schemes are bringing back weekly collection so there is a real mix of schemes.

Mr Lewis emphasised that the secretary of state and ministers consider that when you pay your council tax you want your bins collected. I am actually from a local authority background and know that when you ask people what do they expect to get from their council tax generally most people are saying they want their bins collected.

Schemes

Commenting on the schemes which will be announced today, Mr Lewis noted that the DCLG is also keen to see recycling increase and to make systems easier for the public. Generally we want to see more recycling, and make it easier for them, not to punish them. In the schemes that we will see today, local authorities will actually give people rewards, not punish them, we are very positive about the role of encouragement.

“Generally we want to see more recycling, and make it easier for them, not to punish them.”

– Brandon Lewis, under secretary of state for DCLG

But, local authorities who dont provide weekly services face the threat of losing government funding support according to DCLG secretary of state Eric Pickles, who was writing in the Daily Mail newspaper.

Asked about the potential for grant reductions to non-weekly waste collection local authorities in the future, Mr Lewis said: We have made a clear journey of travel message of what we expect.

The basic underlying message there is one of the key things, one of the core function of local authorities is to keep our street cleans and collect our rubbish. If they are not spending on the core service, then they surely dont need as much money.

We have got this announcement today which is rewarding councils who come up with good schemes and help to keep and place weekly schemes. There is a clear message form the secretary of state on the journey of travel.

WRAP

Mr Lewis also commented on the role of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). In the Daily Mail today, Mr Pickles commented on the role of WRAP referring to past work on introducing fortnightly collections where it told councils to make the cuts after local elections to avoid democratic opposition.

The under secretary of state explained that now WRAP had been involved in the process to deliver the weekly collection fund.

They have been on the panel with DCLG. They are a Defra body and they know very much where we are coming from and the DCLG secretary of state has worked with the Defra secretary of state on this.

Mr Brandon continued: They are an autonomous quango. We have made it clear so that they know what we expect from local authorities and where DCLG is coming from, that people want their rubbish collected.

The importance of incentive schemes to encourage people to recycle was highlighted by Mr Lewis. He said: Incentives are very important. I think personally a carrot is always a good thing, whether it is a direct incentive as some authorities are proposing or just making it easier for someone to do something rather than punishing them.

Announcement

Todays announcement will be welcomed by local authorities. Some councils have already been advised that they are likely to win funding support under the weekly collection. Others are waiting for an announcement so they can get projects moving.

Only this week the Environmental Services Association, teamed up with the Resource Association to complain to Mr Pickles of a delay in the announcement which had been expected last month. The pair, who respectively represent the waste management industry and reprocessors/recyclers, were supported in their concerns by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and the Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association.