Thousands
of households across Calderdale, who only two months ago began to
participate in the new household recycling collections, have now
had that service withdrawn - following the financial failure of
our community recycler Kerbside. A substantial proportion of the
community, which previously could not recycle - because they had
no car or garden - are once again excluded from participation in
this essential service.
Whatever
the limited nature of Calderdale Council main waste contract, the
Council and FOCSA have a responsibility to try and restore the household
collections. A lot of money has been invested in black boxes; people's
jobs have been lost; recycling rates will fall. Recycling is popular;
now expectations have been raised and then dashed.
Read
Calderdale FOE's letter to the Council below: We're exasperated
about the withdrawal of the new household service, and the general
failure to improve recycling performance over recent years.
Last
year Calderdale withdrew one third of the 'bring' sites; now the
new household collection service has gone down.
Letter from Calderdale Friends of the Earth
Philip Lewer, Group Director
Health & Social Care Directorate, Calderdale MBC
Town Hall, Halifax HX1 1UJ
31st October 2003
Dear Philip
I'm writing to you to express the increasing concern, and some
exasperation, felt by Calderdale Friends of the Earth about the
current position on waste and recycling:
- For the last 3-4 years, we have attempted to be a proactive
partner with the Council in improving performance and sustainability;
but this has been extremely difficult because of the Council's
passive response to any initiatives we take. Whether in our own
right, or as members of the Calderdale Sustainability Forum waste
and resources group, we feel our efforts have been like trying
to push a boulder uphill.
- This particularly applies to the new waste contract that started
in August and covering the next five years. We had wanted this
contract to specify the type of recycling service that the Council
wished to be provided - namely a household collection service,
which would increase participation rates and thus recycling performance,
and be truly socially inclusive rather than excluding from recycling
that considerable section of the population without cars (to take
materials to 'bring' sites) or gardens for composting.
- The Council instead merely specified a percentage target provision,
leaving it to the contractor to determine what type of service
would be used to reach the target. Thus, the Council abdicated
responsibility for determining whether the Calderdale community
as a whole would be able to participate in recycling, whilst any
household collection service existing already or which could be
introduced with the new contract would be left as an optional,
rather than contractual, provision; and vulnerable to events.
- However, what the contract actually says is still a mystery
to almost everybody in Calderdale because, despite requests, the
public is denied access to it on grounds of 'commercial confidentiality'.
Needless to say, people do not wish or expect to see those limited
aspects of the contract dealing with its financial terms; what
we would like to see, indeed we ought to have a right to see,
are all other aspects of the contract specifying what is meant
to be done and by who. Without this information there is only
uncertainty: for example, who is responsible for waste minimisation?
- This was the situation before the current Kerbside difficulties.
Wearing my Calderdale Sustainability Forum director's hat, I know
something of the difficulties and complexities associated with
Kerbside's financial failure, but also the considerable efforts
that had to be led by my CSF director colleagues (that is, not
by the Council) to try and retrieve the situation. In doing this,
they were motivated not just by the particular plight of the community
recycler, but also by a wider wish to protect recycling performance
and expectations associated with it across the borough. That leadership
should have come from the Council.
- I must now take it, that is because I've read it in the pages
of Tuesday's Halifax Courier, that Kerbside has finally failed
["Today Kerbside operations manager Andy Cott said they were
left with no choice but to lay 14 workers off last Friday"].
Until Thursday the Council had issued no public statement about
the situation; and neither apparently has FOCSA. For more than
a month there has been uncertainty; and now there is still uncertainty
as to what is to happen in the future. After all, Kerbside were
merely a subcontractor to your contractor; the responsibility
for providing public information about whether the recycling service
previously provided by Kerbside is to continue or not must rest
either with FOCSA or with the Council.
- Because neither of you have provided this essential public
information, all over Hebden Bridge (where I write from) and no
doubt in the other areas served by Kerbside, there are black boxes
filled with rubbish waiting expectantly outside people's houses.
What is to happen to this waste? And what also is to happen to
the expectations of those communities (many of whom have only
just started their recycling service in August) who have now had
that service almost immediately withdrawn.
- What happens also to the considerable financial contributions
that had been made by various parties to assist the Kerbside service
(I'm aware, for example, of the start-up grant made by Hebden
Royd Town Council for black box purchase - and I'm sure there
will be more). What happens to the employees of the community
recycler, many of whom are socially disadvantaged? I hope it is
not the case that Calderdale Council thinks that it can simply
walk away from all these expectations and responsibilities, because
it can't.
- As I write, I'm still uncertain as to what has happened to
the bring sites which Calderdale withdrew in 2002 and which Kerbside
were attempting to restore. If there was any idea that this service
could be withdrawn in parallel with an increase in household collections,
then that has probably been set back by events, leaving a net
decrease in recycling performance.
- On top of this situation, we now have the Audit Commission
report. I am not going to 'cherry pick' what is a complex report,
which has only just been published but, reading through it: there
are a substantial number of critical points, either about performance
or about strategy; there are a number of descriptions of the service
that I, as a local FOE member, simply do not recognise; and I
think there are uncertainties about the information base of the
report and then the judgments made on that basis. (I am also disappointed
that the Inspectors did not choose to interview me, although they
did speak to Keith Huyton, my fellow independent 'critical friend'
on the Best Value review).
And this report was assessing the situation before the Kerbside
failure, which will impact upon a number of its observations and
conclusions. All in all, this situation - the combination of a
partly critical Inspection Report and the collapse of our only
household collection service - is extremely unsatisfactory. When
we have examined the report in greater detail, I intend to correspond
with the Audit Commission inspectors about the issues it raises.
- Beyond this lies the Council's response to the challenging
targets set out in the recently published regional waste strategy.
There are at least two considerable difficulties in bringing the
strategy to implementation: how to provide and fund increase recycling
services; and how to plan, obtain approval for and then implement
the additional recycling facilities and infrastructure that will
be required. These two difficulties will require urgent and early
strategic consideration if they are to be overcome.
Calderdale Friends of the Earth would like to see the Council
take the following action:
- Immediately as client for the waste and recycling service,
you need to state clearly what is to happen to the household collection
services very recently introduced. Calderdale FOE strongly urges
you to ensure that these are maintained; it is not acceptable
that people's opportunity to recycle and expectations are dashed
in this way.
- Next, the Council needs to use its best endeavours to (i) establish
whether a financial basis is available to restore a community
recycler or some other organisation - in place of Kerbside; and
(ii) to bring together the parties and the funding to restore
an organisation and a household recycling service
- the Council should make publicly available the new waste contract
(with the exception of its financial terms, and any other elements
that are genuinely 'commercially confidential') so the interested
parties can have an understanding of how the Council intends to
provide the components of its waste and recycling service.
- the Council should declare, as a matter of principle, its intention
to progressively provide a household recycling service across
the borough; and then draw up plans to implement this intention.
- in order to fund this improved service, the Council should
actively explore in the various possibilities for increased Government
financial assistance. Some two years ago we identified to the
Council the increased funding opportunities for recycling that
DEFRA were making available; we have no idea as to whether the
Council has ever pursued these opportunities. We would also like
to know whether the negative financial consequences of continued
or increased landfill have been adequately costed.
- The Council should set out at an early opportunity how it intends
to implement in full the regional waste strategy. Any such plans
will need to be developed in partnership, and with the participation
of the community.
- In particular the Council needs to set out its strategy to
respond to the waste hierarchy, and firstly the need for waste
minimisation. This is something the Audit Commission Inspectors
have also commented on.
- The Council needs to be far more open and proactive in its
relations with the sustainability partners in Calderdale who want
to see improved improved waste and recycling services provided.
This would involve taking a clear leadership role, and making
available all the information that other parties need
- To develop a new and better relationship with these partners,
the Council should organise a 'Calderdale waste and recycling
summit' - in conjunction with the CSF Recycling project - at which
we can try and develop a collective approach to solving present
and future problems.
I am copying this letter to the waste portfolio holder (I believe
this is Councillor Reason), and to the Audit Commission Inspectors.
Anthony Rae
Coordinator, Calderdale Friends of the Earth
