I was quite appalled that some local authorities don't understand legislation while some are blissfully unaware of it. There's a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of failure to understand their obligations or to take them seriously.
David Moir, Association of Charity Shops
Defra is writing to local authorities to urge them to review their waste management policies to make sure they are in line with Defra's interpretation of the law.
The Department explained the letter would be sent because it had been “alerted to situations where some councils have been charging schools and charities for waste disposal” when it should be free-of-charge. However, Defra has not yet disclosed what this letter will say.
The Department's actions come in the wake of a letter from former environment minister Ben Bradshaw to retired waste consultant Henry Howe of Taunton, Somerset.
Mr Howe wrote to Defra earlier this year accusing Somerset's five collection authorities of charging schools, charities, care homes, hospitals and a number of other institutions for disposal costs. He has accused the county council – the disposal authority – of failing to correct this when it balanced the books and paid the districts for collection services.
Mr Howe says that waste from the institutions is classified as household waste under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and the Controlled Waste Regulations, so they should get the service free-of-charge.
In his response Mr Bradshaw conceded that the matter had taken “too long to come to light” and that “many organisations affected will have been unduly disadvantaged as a result”.
The former environment minister expressed regret that he could not directly intervene and said: “Defra is now aware that the assumption of those who drafted the EPA that local authorities would automatically comply was naïve, and maybe there should be some provision in the EPA to allow the Secretary of State to direct local authorities when they fail to comply with the regulations.”
Audit
Mr Howe has now requested the Audit Commission to investigate the Somerset councils. The Commission and councils have said they are unable to comment while the investigation is on-going. But auditing firm Grant Thorton confirmed it was looking into the county's “interpretation of waste management legislation”.
Local authority experts told letsrecycle.com that it was fair to say that “under the EPA, homes, schools, universities, nursing homes and hospitals are classified as household waste while the Controlled Waste Regulations classifies 'waste from premises occupied by a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes as household waste'.”
Charities
LARAC, the Local Government Association, and Defra, have all said that councils should not be charging for disposal costs but that they can charge these institutions for collections costs – this is set down in Schedule II of the Controlled Waste Regulations.
David Moir, The Association of Charity Shops' head of policy and public affairs, said that some councils are charging charities for both. He explained that some have tried to claim that charities waste counts as business waste – non household waste – so that they can charge disposal costs under regulations governing commercial waste.
The Association has carried out a year long campaign to convince councils they should not be charging for waste disposal – so far 66 councils have amended their policy and some have offered refunds for charges made in the last six months or last financial year
Mr Moir said 108 councils are now potentially overcharging. This includes 30 who offer a limited free service, for example one wheelie bin, then charge for collection and disposal of the excess waste. Another nine have said they refer charities to private contractors and 32 have ignored the Association's requests for information.
He added: said: “I was quite appalled that some local authorities don't understand legislation while some are blissfully unaware of it. There's a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of failure to understand their obligations or to take them seriously. Although, I am reluctant to say there could be other reasons over and above incompetence.”
However, one local government expert added that charging schools, charities and a range of other organisations for disposal costs is a “widespread practice” because local authorities do not want the burden of extra cost and responsibility. The source added that Defra ignores the practice because it doesn't want to face requests for extra finance.
Henry Howe's campaign can be contacted by emailing henry.howe@virgin.net
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