Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Bird expressed concern that recycling will be “way down on the priority list” for councils if the Conservatives decide to push ahead with cuts to local government in the next spending review.
Councils have already seen a considerable reduction in spending between 2010 and 2015, with cuts to local government spending bordering 50% in some areas.
In a report published by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management and Ricardo AEA earlier this year, 69% of waste officers from 183 authorities reported budget cuts due to austerity measures, while 68% responded that vacant posts were not being filled (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Bird: “We don’t know the full extent [of the cuts] yet because although we get the details of the next spending review in the autumn what we don’t know is what measures they may come up with.
“Waste and recycling is way down on the priority list below education, health and social care. Cuts will have to fall somewhere.”
Targets
Asked whether this would impinge on English councils’ ability to meet the EU recycling target of 50% by 2020, Mr Bird said councils would only be able to do what was “financially beneficial” and should not be blamed for any impeding fines from Europe.
He added: “Joint approaches to procurement are bound to happen for more partnerships, and longer term contracts may no longer be the answer. We may have to think completely differently about how we contract other services.
“Where government can play a role is helping to create a circular economy because the only way we will get costs down is if the whole supply chain sector works together.”
[testimonial id = “230” align=”right”]
Mr Bird’s comments came as David Cameron announced that controversial Communities Secretary Eric Pickles would be replaced in his cabinet by Greg Clark yesterday (May 11), with the new minister expected to concentrate his efforts on devolution in England.
Mr Clark is known to be an advocate of localism, and shares in Chancellor George Osborne’s vision of a ‘northern powerhouse’ – which aims to boost jobs and growth in cities in the North of England.
Michael Burton, editorial director of the Municipal Journal, said that Mr Clark’s appointment was “good news” for local government.
He said: “Greg Clark’s appointment is good news. He understands the sector and I think he genuinely believes in it and he’s not in the same mould as Pickles. He is a very mollifying person.”
“The problem we have now is the Conservatives made a lot of tax pledges and they have £12 billion welfare costs that are so far unspecified. Will they say we don’t need to make such stringent spending cuts or will we just plough through?”
Local elections
Thursday also saw a change in the political landscape at a local level, with the Conservatives winning over huge swathes of England in the council elections.
It was also bad news for the Green Party, which retained Caroline Lucas as an MP but lost its only council majority in Brighton Pavilion to Labour. The Party had been struggling to maintain its reputation in the face of rolling bin strikes across the city.
Mr Burton added that council elections next year would be a good indication of whether the Conservatives will have been able to hold on to the hearts and minds of the electorate.
Councils are inept in managing waste contracts and considerable scope in rationalising collections and treatment options and tighten on wasteful expenditure.