Councillors will consider a series of policy recommendations over the provision of the Household HWRC service at 24 centres, in order to meet a new savings target of £1.55 million, at a meeting next week (19 July).
In order to prevent the closure of one or more sites, alternative savings were proposed, including reducing the number of opening hours, charging non-Hampshire residents for use and charging for non-household waste.
And, an SME trade waste offer could also be set up to allow small traders to use the HWRC sites for a charge, with the aim of enabling them access to alternative disposal routes and to help the county council generate a small income to cover the cost of this service.
Savings
A report released ahead of the meeting states: “It was confirmed in February 2015 that the county council must meet a funding shortfall of £98 million by April 2017, with £14.7 million planned to be met from the Economy, Transport and Environment department’s budget.”
As such, the county council is proposing to reduce the annual cost of running the HWRC network by a revised target of £1.55million, to meet the overall 2017 savings target.
The introduction of the non-household and SME waste disposal charges have been delayed to allow for the start of the new HWRC management contract, which began on 1 April 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story). It is being recommended that these charging initiatives be introduced from 1 October, 2016.
Consultation
The report follows a public consultation undertaken this year. Close to 12,000 Hampshire residents responded to the consultation on how savings could be made in the running of HWRCs.
Results and recommendations were presented to the executive member for Economy, Transport and Environment, Rob Humby, who will make a final decision 22 July.
Cllr Humby said: “I will be looking closely at the report and recommendations over the coming weeks but I am very pleased to see that it looks like a way has been developed to meet Hampshire residents’ highest priority and keep all of Hampshire’s 24 (HWRCs) open, while achieving the savings the County Council needs to make for this year.
“It’s clear we simply cannot afford to carry on as before and provide this same seven-day-a-week level of service.”
Cllr Rob Humby
Hampshire county council Economy, Transport and Environment member
“Hampshire has a large number of HWRCs compared with other local authorities, and with the continued reductions in government funding, it’s clear we simply cannot afford to carry on as before and provide this same seven-day-a-week level of service.
“We asked Hampshire residents what changes they would be willing to see to establish a financially sustainable way to run the HWRCs, and it was clear that their main priority was to retain their local site.
Decision
“I am hopeful that all these components of savings and small charges mean that we can keep Hampshire’s network of 24 sites, which is what residents have told us they want.”
The report will go to Hampshire county council’s Economy, Transport and Environment Select Committee on 19 July, and then to the executive member for Environment and Transports decision day on 22 July.
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