The local government watchdog has published three separate reports examining services delivered by Northumberland county council, Castle Morpeth borough and Berwick Upon Tweed borough councils.
”Waste management services in Northumberland have improved significantly as a result of the commitment and concerted action of the councils involved“
– Geoff Norris, Audit Commission
The county council won praise for providing a good and cost effective waste disposal service for its 310,000 residents and inspectors said it worked well with the district councils to achieve recycling and composting targets.
Castle Morpeth won praise for its success in keeping the borough clean and for beating its own recycling targets.
Inspectors acknowledged that Berwick upon Tweed had met its recycling targets but warned that improvements are not being maintained and said it is not doing enough to reduce waste through education and enforcement.
Senior Audit Commission manager, Geoff Norris, said: “Waste management services in Northumberland have improved significantly as a result of the commitment and concerted action of the councils involved.
“The county and Castle Morpeth councils have identified waste as one of their main priorities, agreed a joint waste management strategy for the county with the other districts and are investing and working with others to provide a good waste service to local people.
However he added: “Though the rate of recycling is increasing across the county the amount of waste produced is still high compared to many other types of council and all the councils have further work to do to reduce waste and the amounts going to landfill.”
“Berwick has not decided on the priority to give to waste management in its overall corporate priorities. Recent improvements on waste recycling have stalled and progress has been less rapid,” said Mr Norris.
Recycling increase
Services examined by the inspections included the collection and disposal of 196,000 tonnes of waste a year; recycling and waste minimization as well as street cleaning and looking after council-owned land. The latest official figures show that the rate of recycling has increased to 25.5% with the amount of waste landfill reduced to 73.9%.
Cllr Alan Cutter, executive member for the environment at Northumberland, said he was delighted the commission had praised the county for providing “high quality, value for money, waste management services” with a high level of public satisfaction.
“This latest report is a ringing endorsement of our commitment to improve waste management and achieve a healthy and safe environment in Northumberland, both now and for future generations,” said Cllr Cutter.
The inspectors found the councils to provide a well-coordinated household waste collection and disposal service; residents have easy access to waste services and the local authorities work effectively with other agencies to address problems of fly tipping and abandoned vehicles.
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Among key recommendations they said the councils need to improve their own waste management; work better with local partners; improve their use of performance management information and improve value for money by market testing services.
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