Pre-empting the formal government response to the report published by the Committee last month, minister Joan Ruddock said on Thursday her Department “will have to differ” with MPs on the matter.
Poverty is no reason why people cannot recycle.
Joan Ruddock
She dismissed further challenges to Defra's plan for five local authorities to test out reward and charging systems to encourage household recycling, saying: “There is little point in going further over this well-trodden ground.”
The CLG Committee, led by Labour back-bencher Dr Phyllis Starkey, had criticised the government for taking so long to try out incentives – and also said all local authorities should be given the power to try charging schemes, rather than just five (see letsrecycle.com story).
But last week, Mrs Ruddock argued that the pilot schemes would be a “good way in which to learn lessons about best practice before deciding whether to roll out any of the schemes”.
The minister said of the CLG's report: “We totally reject the Committee's 14 conclusions, all of which fly in the face of earlier responses to the Government's own information gathering on this subject. We remain confident that local authorities will want to pilot such schemes.”
Amendments
The power to run the five charging pilot schemes is currently subject to the relevant provisions of the Climate Change Bill passing through Parliament. The Bill is currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords, and is yet to receive a hearing by the Commons.
Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on Thursday, Mrs Ruddock revealed that Defra is proposing amendments in the Lords to allow pilot schemes based on payment or incentive related to frequency of collections. A further amendment would allow identifying tags to be applied to bins or bags, which could be paid for by householders.
The minister also revealed that the pilot schemes will be required to be completed with the government reporting back to Parliament within three years of the Climate Change being signed off by the Queen – likely to be this summer.
“However, we will not require that all pilots be technically completed and wound up before we report on them. If pilots prove to be successful, we can act with appropriate pace to make the powers available to all local authorities,” Mrs Ruddock told MPs.
Disadvantaged
Responding to concerns of the CLG committee and MPs present at Thursday's debate, the minister confirmed that local authorities would be encouraged to acknowledge disadvantaged residents with their incentive schemes. In particular, she suggested exemptions for some disabled residents might be appropriate.
The pilots will also have to consider how to deal with large families, Mrs Ruddock said.
However, Mrs Ruddock argued that “poverty is no reason why people cannot recycle”, stating her belief that there was no reason why people with less money should not recycle “along with those of us who have more money”.
She said: “Poverty is not an issue. Indeed, poorer people tend to have fewer products and expenditures, and probably less waste, although I have not carried out an analysis of that. However, I suggest that they are likely to have less waste than those of us with greater purchasing power.”
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