PAPER NO. 8
REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE MEETING OF 26TH JUNE 2006
Status:
Decision
Title:
Leicestershire Municipal Waste Strategy Review
Leicestershire Waste Partnership
Brendan Coleman, Head of Street Scene Services
Strategic Management Team
Originator:
Where from:
Where to
next:
Implementation
1
Purpose of Report
1.1
The purpose of this report is:
a)
to inform Members of the process undertaken in reviewing the joint Municipal
Waste Management Strategy for Leicestershire (LMWMS)
b)
to advise Members of details contained within the Strategy that has been
produced by the Leicestershire Waste Management Partnership and the
Member Steering Group recommendation to partner authorities on proposals
to take the Strategy forward;
c)
that following the Member Steering Group’s recommendation, to request the
Council to adopt the proposed Leicestershire Municipal Waste Management
Strategy; and
d)
to recognise the need for further more detailed work to be negotiated and
conducted on implementation issues.
2
Recommendations:
2.1
To adopt in principle the proposed Core Strategy of The Leicestershire
Municipal Waste Management Strategy as set out in the report and
appendices.
2.2
The Member Steering Group be advised that this Council wishes to see the
following amendments being added to the associated action plan:a) that a representative trial of the proposed kitchen waste collection service
is undertaken within Leicestershire at the earliest opportunity in order to
gauge public acceptance and suitability of the scheme, prior to possible
implementation throughout the County;
b) that the trial area and funding mechanism be identified by relevant officer
within the Leicestershire Waste Management Partnership and be reported
back to Members for comment and endorsement;
c) that further treatment options utilising existing facilities in and around
Leicestershire and robustly explored and a full cost benefit analysis
undertaken in relation to the proposed kitchen waste collection trial; and
d) that a further report be brought back to the Member Steering Group
detailing the outcomes of the above actions.
2.3
That the Action Plan be approved subject to the Member Steering Group
agreeing to the requested changes above.
3
Background
3.1
The Leicestershire Waste Management Partnership, with assistance from
consultants Eunomia, has recently completed a comprehensive review of the
Leicestershire Municipal Waste Management Strategy.
3.2
This review has taken account of a number of factors including: The need to meet the Landfill Directive targets and reduce our reliance on
landfill, particularly as this option is becoming less attractive due to increased
costs and reduced availability;
 The requirement on local authorities to have in place a joint Municipal Waste
Management Strategy and the new practice guidance on the production of
Municipal Waste Management Strategies;
 The significant increases in recycling performance achieved as a result of
investment by Leicestershire’s local authorities in recent years;
 The recognition that further more stretched targets are likely to be introduced by
Government in the future;
 The need to tackle the long term effects of waste growth;
 The need to develop additional services to help improve our recycling
performance further; and
 The need to plan strategically for facilities to manage residual waste in
Leicestershire.
3.3
The review was conducted with the help of direct consultancy support from
Government (Defra) and is the culmination of over 12 months work on behalf of the
Partnership authorities.
3.4
The review process has been developed in conjunction with senior waste officers
from each authority within the Partnership and input from senior finance officers.
The process has been guided by a Member Steering Group that has met on several
occasions to agree a number of interim issues including: the Vision and Objectives
(attached as Appendix A), the Policies, the Draft Strategy for consultation and the
consultation process itself.
4
Structure of the Strategy
4.1
The structure agreed for the strategy itself follows that recommended in the
Practice Guidance on Municipal Waste Management Strategies:
Core Strategy
- High level, long-term
- Key objectives, targets and policies
- Consistent with WDF core strategy
Action Plan
- How the Core Strat will be
delivered
- SMART objectives and targets
- Used as key management tool
Strategic
Environmental
Assessment
Technical
Appendices
Economic
Appraisal
Community
Involvement Report
The Core Strategy contains high level, long-term objectives and policies. This part of
the strategy should be reviewed at 5 and 10 years but be expected to remain largely
consistent for the duration of the strategy.
The Action Plan details how the core strategy will be delivered with annual objectives
and targets – effectively forming the basis of the annual plan for the partnership. This
part of the strategy will be revised regularly in light of changing performance,
achievements and circumstances.
Technical Appendices contain the detailed data on which the strategy is based and
the results of technical studies undertaken to inform the strategy.
The Economic Appraisal details the financial projections and assumptions that have
led to the business case for the proposed strategy.
The Community Involvement Report details the way in which the community have
been engaged and consulted in the development of the strategy.
The Strategic Environmental Assessment provides an appraisal of the major
options in the strategy against key environmental & sustainability criteria.
4.2
A summary of the key elements within the Strategy development process is
attached as Appendix B. The Leicestershire Municipal Waste Management
Strategy is therefore represented by two main documents – the Core Strategy and
the Action Plan (available via the Partnership website www.lesswaste.org.uk). The
supporting documents are a more detailed series of reports that support the
Strategy (available upon request).
5
Public Engagement
5.1
As part of the development of the Strategy the public and local community have
been involved at many stages including: A series of stakeholder panel meetings to scrutinise the process being
undertaken by the Partnership. A range of stakeholders including community
groups, business organisations, charities and environmental pressure groups
were invited to four meetings held at critical stages of the Strategy development
process.
 A community panel that was recruited to review, recommend and prioritise the
factors against which the options available to the Strategy were measured.
 A comprehensive consultation process on the Draft Strategy including summary
documents and questionnaires sent direct to a approximately 4,000 households;
radio advertising; documents and questionnaires available in public buildings; a
free-phone telephone line to obtain documents and questionnaires 24-7; an online service; as well as statutory consultees and Parish Councils across
Leicestershire.
5.2
The public consultation was completed in March 2006, a process that led to a very
positive overall support for the Draft Strategy. The quantitative responses collated
from the returned questionnaires together with qualitative responses from groups
and organisations were presented to the Member Steering Group for consideration.
5.3
In accordance with the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes
Regulations 2004 an Environmental Report on the Draft Strategy has been
produced and also sent out for consultation.
5.4
Following all the consultation conducted as part of the Strategy review, all
comments have now been incorporated in the Strategy document dated May 2006,
as approved by the Member Steering Group on 17th May 2006.
6
What the Strategy Says
6.1
The Strategy is a strategic and fluid document that sets a direction for the
Partnership as a whole. Similarly, the previous Strategy set a direction that
was followed by all, but in different ways.
6.2
The Strategy follows the waste management hierarchy by first seeking to minimise
waste through waste prevention initiatives, followed by recycling and composting
and then finally treatment of waste prior to disposal.
6.3
The Strategy sets targets for recycling (including composting) and reducing the
amount of residual waste generated per person.
6.4
The Strategy suggests that final disposal options are left flexible at this stage with
treatment prior to any disposal option being preferred but thermal treatment of
waste not being ruled out. Ultimately, the performance of existing recovery
schemes and pre-treatment options will heavily influence the size and type of
facilities needed by the Partnership.
6.5
The detailed Action Plan demonstrates that the contributions from the prevention,
recycling and composting initiatives are achievable. This is unique to Leicestershire
and has been developed following detailed modelling work and workshops with
officers. This Action Plan will be revised annually.
7
The Implementation Process
7.1
The proposal to adopt the Strategy is a broad agreement in principle and any
detailed collection and treatment arrangements remain to be negotiated. However,
sign up to the principles (identified by the ‘Blue Print Sign Up’ in the diagram below)
does enable the implementation process to begin. Work will therefore start in
earnest with respect to the some of the initial work in the Action Plan that will
reduce the risk of the Partnership failing to meet Landfill Directive targets.
The Implementation Process
Blueprint
Sign-up
Procurement
Processes
Confirmed
Infrastructure
Procurement
Commences
e.g. PIN
Detailed legal
agreement
Negotiations on
Cost and risk
partition
Detailed roles,
Responsibilities
and investments agreed
7.2
At this stage however, there are no financial commitments from Partner authorities
to implement the Strategy. Further work will be conducted to establish more clearly
the cost implications and in particular any mechanism for sharing the costs of
implementing the Strategy to ensure minimum impact on the Council Tax payer of
Leicestershire.
7.3
The Strategy therefore sets out the broad direction and timetable for delivery of
service development. Further work is required on the details before any major
changes can be introduced.
8
Background Papers
8.1
Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Leicestershire
Previous report(s): Report to Executive – 29th August 2001, minute 249(v)
Information Issued Under Sensitive Issue Procedure: Yes/No