Councils could end up footing the bill for failing to comply with European legislation – governing topics such as waste and recycling – unless the Localism Bill is amended, the Local Government Association has warned.
Changing the goalposts now to make councils liable for fines is unfair to them and unfair to the local residents who may have to foot the bill
Baroness Margaret Eaton, LGA Chair
Expanding on concerns raised in the wake of the second reading of the Bill earlier this week (see letsrecycle.com story), the local authority body has hit out at the government over clauses 30 to 34 in the Localism Bill, which will allow ministers to require that local authorities contribute to any fines levied on the UK by the European Union.
The organisation, known as the LGA, has claimed that these bills could run to as much as £1 billion at a time when councils are already facing a 28% reduction in spending over the next four years following the Comprehensive Spending Review.
At present, the UK is required to comply with a host of European legislation on waste and recycling, such as the Landfill Directive, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, the Batteries Directive and the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive. All of which carry financial penalties for non-compliance.
LGA chairman, Baroness Margaret Eaton, said: “The potentially billion pound fines from Brussels are for breaching national targets, which were agreed by central government with the EU.
“Changing the goalposts now to make councils liable for fines is unfair to them and unfair to the local residents who may have to foot the bill. The Government must amend this unfair, unworkable, dangerous and unconstitutional legislation.”
“Unconstitutional”
The LGA said that the possibility of fines being passed down to councils had never been suggested to local authorities and that they had never been consulted on this. Furthermore, it added that it would be “impossible” for the government to correctly calculate what percentage of a fine a council should pay.
Baroness Eaton said: “At the moment too many of the factors which could lead the UK to miss the targets fall outside town hall influence. On air quality alone big polluters like motorways and bus operators are currently beyond our control.
“Councils can do good work locally, but making them liable for fines for failing to fix a problem they don't have sufficient powers or money to fully address is demonstrably unfair.”
“We are calling on the government to talk to us about how national and local government can work together to ensure the UK does not become liable for fines in the first place.”
The Localism Bill is now set to be sent to the Common's Public Bill Committee for scrutiny.
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