It is good to see that Defra’s recognises the need for urgency after a long period of delay, but decisions made without proper consideration of the evidence may have unforeseen consequences for councils.
Key messages
The LGA is pleased to respond to both the public and closed consultations from Defra on the implementation of the simpler recycling reforms, although we are concerned by short period of four weeks to respond. It is good to see that Defra’s recognises the need for urgency after a long period of delay, but decisions made without proper consideration of the evidence may have unforeseen consequences for councils.
Response to consultation questions
Questions 6-10: Do you agree or disagree that the following types of premises should be included as a relevant non-domestic premises for the separate collection of waste?
- places of worship
- penal institutes
- charity shops selling donated goods originating from a domestic property
- residential hostels which provide accommodation only to persons with no other permanent address or who are unable to live at their permanent address
- premises used wholly or mainly for public meetings
There may be a case for bring the types of premises listed above in the scope of simpler recycling and requiring them to comply with requirements for separate collection of waste. On balance, the LGA disagrees because of concerns with the March 2025 implementation deadline and a lack of clarity on enforcement.
Defra has set a deadline of 2025 for businesses to implement simpler recycling, a year before households. This means that any council providing waste services to businesses will have to manage two timetables. Defra needs to understand the impact of this decision on councils, particularly where council waste infrastructure is supporting both household and business services. For example, vehicles and waste transfer stations may be used for both household and non-household collections. This means that all services have to confirm with the earlier non-household implementation deadline of 2025, adding cost to councils and reducing the amount of time for procurement and contract negotiation. Commercial waste providers will purchase vehicles and bins a year ahead of councils, and this will limit the supply of equipment available for councils to implement household reforms. Expanding the types of premises legally defined as non-domestic could increase the problem.
Defra also needs to consider the implications for enforcement. For example, extending the obligation to charity shops would bring 11,200 premises into the scope of enforcement. Resources for environmental enforcement are already stretched, and Defra must set out a coherent enforcement strategy that provides funding for implementation costs.
Should government intend to place enforcement responsibilities on councils, this must be fully funded and should not rely on income from fixed monetary penalties to fund implementation. Councils aim to support businesses and others to comply with regulations in the first instance, with enforcement action a backup measure for wilful or repeated breaches.
Implementation activities for a new regulatory regime, such as visiting and advising businesses, needs to be properly funded. Any additional duties for regulatory services need to be considered alongside other proposed new demands on local regulators, because even if all new roles are funded the cumulative impact needs to be considered in the context of the difficulty of recruiting additional staff, which goes beyond finance.