Briefings and responses

Waste and recycling are among the most valued services any council provides. They are used by all council taxpayers and represent the third biggest spend item in a council’s budget. A doubling of spend by councils to £3.28 billion has seen recycling rates improve 400 per cent in the last decade.

Over the past year our members have placed increased importance on the future of mobility and therefore it is a policy area where the LGA has become more active.

Local authorities share the Government’s commitment to improving air quality and support the phasing out the most polluting products used for domestic burning given their contribution to emissions.   

The LGA has long called for businesses and manufacturers to pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging.

This briefing provides a summary of the Strategy, with a specific focus on those elements which are most likely to directly impact upon local government. The key concepts within the strategy are subject to consultation which is likely to take place from January 2019 onwards.

Giving councils a sustainable financial settlement is the long term solution to protecting and enhancing trees in public spaces, and this must be addressed in the forthcoming Spending Review.  

Councils would welcome greater flexibility on local revenue and capitalraising powers, to support their ability to manage local flood and coastal erosion risk management risks.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has recently consulted on proposals to introduce a permitted development right for shale gas exploration.i Shale gas exploration takes place in order to identify suitable sites for hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’), and can have a number of impacts on local communities.

Councils have been successful in establishing recycling infrastructure and services. 99 per cent of local authorities currently collect plastic bottles, and over half (52 per cent) provide drop off points for plastics.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an overarching framework cutting across environmental, economic and social goals.