The Committee, announced earlier this week (see letsrecycle.com story), has council representation only at councillor and chief executive level. The Committee was set up to drive forward the government's Waste Implementation Programme as laid out in its response to the Strategy Unit's waste review.
The two appointments from the local authority sector are Essex county councillor Kay Twitchen, who is also chairman of the Local Government Association Waste and Environmental Management Executive, and John Schultz, chief executive of Stockport Metropolitan Borough and lead adviser to the North West Regional Assembly on waste.
But speaking to letsrecycle.com, one local authority expert said: “Although there are local government representatives on the Group, I find it very strange that there is no voice for the officers, who have the necessary first hand experience of waste minimisation, collection, recovery, recycling, composting, other suitable treatments and much, much more and, indeed, who will be implementing many of any recommendations which surely will be made by the Group.”
It has been suggested that the Steering Committee ought to have representation from the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), the County Surveyors Society and the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers.
Andy Doran, the LARAC chair, told letsrecycle.com: “There is undoubted calibre and expertise on the Steering Group and it is especially welcomed that both a local authority chief executive and elected councillor are represented, however, the voice and experience of front line recycling staff does not seem to be apparent in this structure.”
Mr Doran went on: “LARAC has begun to develop very good working relationships with both DEFRA and the LGA in recent months and we will ensure that we use these relationships to the maximum to ensure that our voice is heard. LARAC last week attended a positive meeting with John Burns the new head of the Waste Implementation Programme along with the LGA and we hope from this stronger working relationships will emerge.”
The Steering Committee will be subject to a review after its initial term of 12 months.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We acknowledge the importance of waste officers' input if the Waste Implementation Programme is to deliver results on the ground. In our view, regular working-level contact is the best way to ensure Defra understands waste officers' views – rather than via the Steering Committee, which has deliberately been established as a small, focused group to provide high-level advice to the Programme. As Andy Doran points out, we are working hard to build on the current strong relations between Defra and local authorities.”
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