Budget Proposal for Bulky Waste

COMMUNITY DEBATE BUDGET PROPOSAL 2013/14

Title of proposal

Charging for bulky waste collections

Lead officer

Shaun Askins

Reference

1. Summary of proposal (s)

The proposal is to introduce a charge for collection of household bulky waste. The charge is proposed as £25 for up to three items per collection.

2. Description, background and rationale for this proposal

Luton Borough Council is currently one of the few local authorities fully funding a free household bulky waste collection service, with over 90% of other Councils now charging in some manner for this service, even under concessionary schemes.

We want to continue encouraging residents to re-use and recycle usable bulky items, ideally to local charities. With over 1,110 tonnes collected each year however, and service costs rising, we are proposing that this moves to a chargeable service as the bulky waste collections from households can no longer be sustained as a free service.

The proposal is that we reduce the cost of the service to the Council by introducing a nominal charge of £25 per visit for up to three items, Residents will continue to be able to dispose of large household items for free at either of the two Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) provided by the authority at Progress Way and Eaton Green Road. As part of the Your Say community debate last year nearly 800 residents gave their views on budget proposals. 91% of residents were satisfied with the existing refuse collection service. We also asked a number of questions about charging for bulky waste:

 When asked about the level of impact of introducing a charge for the collection of bulky household waste and/or clinical collections, 52% of people felt it would have a fairly or big impact on them  When asked about what these impacts were the main specific concerns were that people would just dump or fly-tip their waste,

See section 4 for actions we have taken to reduce the impact of these proposals.

1. Why is the Council putting forward these proposals? Given the level of Government funding available, the Council and other authorities are having to reduce budgets significantly. Accordingly the Council is reviewing all its services and the way they are delivered. Charging for bulky waste collections is now the norm, with over 90% of councils charging for this service .Luton is one of the few councils not currently charging at all. The Council wants to continue providing a bulky waste service and the proposed charge will contribute towards the service delivery across the town.

2. What does the Council hope to achieve with its proposal(s) for this service? This proposal, if accepted, would enable the Council to reduce the overall cost of providing the service, helping to maintain bulky waste collections to all residents for large household items

3. What would be different for the residents of Luton if any of the proposals were accepted? If the proposal is accepted, the charge levied would be three items for £25 but we would continue promoting the re-use of bulky waste via charities and donations.

4. What might be the consequence of rejecting all of the proposals? Luton has to balance its budget by law and equivalent savings to replace any not taken from this service would have to be found elsewhere.

3. Findings from our draft Integrated Impact Assessment

The proposal with regard to charging for bulky waste may affect those who are on benefits and therefore unable to pay. 4. Actions we will take to reduce the impact of the proposal

In listening to the concerns raised in the earlier stages of the community debate (see section 2) the Council has responded by:

 proposing that the charge is set at a nominal rate which is less than the actual cost of the service provided

Residents would continue to have access to the Household Waste Recycling Centres for free disposal of bulky waste from the household.

We would continue to offer those who contact the call centre the option of directing them to NOAH and other charities that may be able to provide a re-use / recycling option at little or no cost to the resident.

The service itself is discretionary and residents would still be provided with statutory kerbside collection of residual waste and recycling

5. Consultation – how the public and organisations can tell the Council their views

Consultation will be via the Your Say community debate. Residents can respond online, electronically or on paper.

6. Potential cash savings and benefits of this proposal

Taking into account the Council’s concessions policy, it is expected that the proposed charge of £25 per visit for three items would generate income in the order of £50,000 pa. However this is also dependent on take-up and whether or not residents utilise HWRCs or a skip as an alternative means of disposal, or even review whether or not a item can be re-used or recycled within their immediate circle of family or friends.

The total cost of the service is £200,000, so this estimated £50,000 contribution would reduce the net cost to £150,000.

7. For further information on this proposal please contact

Officer name: Shaun Askins

Telephone: 01582 54 6807

E-mail: [email protected]

Click here to comment on this proposal as a resident

Click here to comment on this proposal as an organisation