The Government has consulted waste authorities on whether there should be a restriction on the number of waste collections.
There are lots of reasons why this might not make sense for our areas, both on a national and local level. In particular, our member authorities have raised that, once combined with other forms of waste collection, less frequent bin collections can be part of an active recycling strategy. This can lead to better overall service for residents, while helping local authorities lower their costs and reduce their climate emissions.
However, our key concern is protecting local government autonomy. Local government is best placed to make decisions with and on behalf of local residents. We therefore urge Government to trust our member authorities to establish and ensure the best standard of waste collection and management for their area.
In addition, in line with our previous requests, we ask that Government help enable our local authorities to make the kinds of reforms needed at a local level by providing consistent, reliable and enhanced funding. This will help our local authorities establish best practice, insulate them against financial shocks, and give them the security they need to experiment with new kinds of public service delivery
For more information, please see our response to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs here.