Managing waste services through Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Many local authorities are reviewing their organisational structures and are changing structure (e.g. from two-tier District Councils to one-tier Unitary Authorities) as part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. These reorganisations at the local authority level are to accommodate increased responsibilities and to streamline services, to provide better value for money for local taxpayers. Where councils are consolidated into new one-tier, unitary authorities, service delivery across all of the former council areas needs to be merged into one single approach.

Newly created unitary authorities will have the responsibility for both waste collection and waste disposal, and this integration of function as well as geography presents several challenges for local authority waste managers.  Issues  can include contract alignment, differences in waste service across new formed administrative areas, staff and fleet integration, consistent communications and data management, and the division and future management of waste management assets.

WRM’s guide to managing waste services through the LGR process provides local authority waste managers with information to plan a route to a single coordinate waste service in anticipation and in response to LGR.