Keith Perrin had 'no problem' with £40 garden waste charge

Gaynor Lloyd has sent me this comment on suggestions that the Garden Tax was a contributing factor to Cllr Keith Perrin's resignation.  (It is published here as it was too long to go in as a normal comment on the original story)

As Keith Perrin's wife, could I just make a comment? I  was around when - after the election and  as new Lead Member - Keith  was looking at the whole "package" of changes to the waste arrangements: considering  the overall  contract,  and the variations including those for food and green waste. I know what  research he did , and how much time he spent  raising  questions with officers, etc. I   watched him deliver information about the changes in various forums, and answer numerous residents' and councillors' questions, including at Scrutiny - and follow up those questions which he was unable to answer. I can  say that Keith had -  and has  - no problem with the "garden tax"  (though he may not be keen on calling it that!) or with the overall changes .   What follows is the article he did for the Sudbury Court Courier in our Ward, while he was Lead Member, and which sets out Keith's genuinely held views. 

" Changes to Waste Services in Brent by Northwick Park Councillor Keith Perrin

After being elected to the Council in May, for which I thank you all, I became Lead Member for the Environment in June.   Almost immediately, the  Council announced proposed changes to its Waste Services.  Since then, I have been questioned daily and often at great length on the subject.  I have had to understand the issues, the waste contract with Veolia (the Council's contractor) and the position in the Borough as a whole. Most contentious is the new 'opt in' £40 charge for a garden waste bin   - but the changes are about much more.  

These changes are being introduced for two reasons.  Put simply, the Council has no choice. It has to save money and it has to reduce waste. The changes should achieve both.  More than that, they will be  fair and overall improve the waste collection service  to all the residents in the Borough.  

The basic principles behind the changes:

·         We have to improve recycling rates

·         We have to reduce overall collected waste (2011 Waste Regulations). Waste sent to landfill costs us £108 a tonne.

·         We have to reduce the overall cost of waste disposal.  Mixed garden and food waste  costs £88 a tonne to process;  food waste on its own costs less than £30 a tonne and garden waste £34.

·         We have to save money or increase income. We have a £53 million budget deficit.  The Government won't let us raise Council Tax; the Council is bound by law to provide services - which cost money. We have to do what we can. These changes will  reduce the cost of the waste contract by a projected £378,000 per annum (and potentially more).

So - back to the Green Bins.

I should explain that, unlike most waste,  the Council has no statutory obligation to collect garden waste for free; many councils have never done so; since 2005, some of us in Brent have been lucky and received this service. Living in the greener parts of the Borough, I have had a free green bin for mixed food and garden waste. (In fact, I have two.) But not every household  in Brent even has one.  

Their food waste has to go into the ordinary landfill bin, collected fortnightly  - so potentially smelling awful, and attracting vermin, maggots and flies. You could say that our green bins have been subsidised by other people in the Borough who have not even had a food waste collection service. This does not make sense. 

Going forward, all 110,000 Brent households will be supplied with a robust sealable 23 litre food waste container  - collected every week - by new compartmentalised recycling lorries, which will also  collect dry recycling (the blue bin stuff). In one step reducing landfill by taking food waste,  and the overflow recycling which has previously found its way into the grey bins,  because blue bins are only collected  fortnightly. This removal of recyclable waste from the landfill bins will save us over £70 a tonne. Since 50,000 households don't have a green bin, you can easily work out how much we might save.

I have looked at the evidence from other parts of the country. I know that people believe that garden waste will increase fly tipping.  I believe It hasn't happened anywhere, except Birmingham, where there were "demonstrations" prior to the local election in May.  I hope it won't happen in Brent;  I don't believe that those who love their gardens would be the sort of people who would fly tip their garden waste. 

I hope we gardeners will think of composting, mulching, leaving wildlife areas less cultivated,  and being community minded in, e.g., helping each other on shared runs to the free recycling centre in Park Royal. But, if there is fly tipping, Veolia collect it. And pay the excess landfill tax.  Veolia clearly believe it will work! And I believe it will. It has to. We must reduce waste,  not just to save money but for the sake of the planet and our children. And a bit more leaving of green wildness might help in that aim too. ".

Brent's 'Garden Tax' called in by Scrutiny Committee

In the first major test of Brent Council's new stripped down scrutiny process, the Scrutiny Committee will consider the £40 charge for green waste collection agreed recently by the Cabinet.

The Commiteee which meets on Wednesday 6th August at 7pm at Brent Civic Centre will consider the following call-in: (Full report HERE)

Whilst not opposing the principle of charging for garden waste, members consider that the system proposed could be improved on.

·      There was concern at the absence of crucial information in the report including:

·      a proper analysis of options available to the council

·      consideration of up front payment (covering collection and disposal) for recycling bags rather than an annual charge

·      clear financial information regarding risk/gain to Brent Council and Veolia

·      information about market research undertaken with residents on options likely to achieve good recycling rates

·      how Brent can seek reciprocal arrangements with neighbouring authorities so

·      increasing drop off points. The only site proposed in the report is at Abbey Road

·      learning from other local authorities

·      contamination of dry recycling/kitchen waste o monitoring and enforcement communication with residents.  

An outline of the suggested course of action of the Scrutiny Committee is to:

·      seek a report responding to the concerns outlined above

·      question lead member and senior officers and the leader

·      if necessary, set up a very brief task finish group to examine these issues in more depth.

Additionally, reference was made to residents’ concerns about the charge and the implications. 

Further clarification was requested on:

·      the way the decision was made

·      what would have changed within a year of a new contract, to justify such big

·      change or adjustment

·      the framework is in place for monitoring and reporting

·      the financial implications for the council in relation to the scheme.

Whilst not opposing the principle of charging for garden waste, additional concerns  were expressed at the absence of crucial information n in the report including the failure to:

·      demonstrate VFM (value for money)

·      show financial information containing savings from decommissioning existing

·      garden waste service

·      give financial information regarding risk/gain to Brent Council and Veolia

·      model other alternatives, available to the Brent Council and consider their financial and environmental impact.

Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

·      seek a report responding to the concerns outlined above

·      question lead member and senior officers o if necessary, set up a task group to examine these issues in more depth to ensure VFM.

Finally, representations expressed the concern that a flat fee was regressive, and referred to lobbying by the Mapesbury Gardening Group, environmental groups and local residents. The main concern was that the arrangement may not represent value for money once scenarios for unintended consequence s were included in the model.

Scrutiny Committee is asked to:

·      invite the Lead Member, the Leader and appropriate officers to address these issues.

Brent Cabinet approve £40 annual charge for green waste despite protests

Despite representations by local resident Martin Redston and a written submission from Brent Friends of the Earth, Brent's Cabinet approved changes to the waste collection system this afternoon.

This will include a £40 annual fee for the collection of green waste, a weekly waste food caddy collection and weekly blue bin dry recyclable collection.

Martin Redston spoke to the Cabinet about the difficult of composting large branches ansd took along some samples. He said that some residents only need a few green waste collections a year coinciding with specific times in the gardening calendar. He  pointed out that cross subsidies already exist across the different levels of services residents receive.

The discussion in the Cabinet suggested that Brent's priority was to increase dry recycling rates and that member residents required more frequent blue top bin collections - the £40 charge would help fund this.

The statement from Brent Friends of the Earth LINK was read out but the Cabinet went on to approve the changes, including the £40 charge.

It is worth pointing out that the Council only set out the specification for the new Public realm contract last year with the report  LINK to the Executive in October 2013, less than one year ago, with no mention of these suggested changes and  certainly the introduction of charges in the specification.

However this paragraph is significant:

-->

During the competitive dialogue process the financial outlook for local government has deteriorated further and Brent Council now faces a budget shortfall of £20m in 2014/15’.

The Medium Term Financial Plan is currently being changed to revise the £55m shortfall between 2014/15 and 2016/17 and will be communicated to members shortly. As a result officers asked bidders to identify other savings options which were not part of the financial evaluation. Within the contract there is a change control mechanism that will help the authority and Veolia to accurately price any service changes during the life of the contract, ensuring that prices are transparent and fair to both parties.

'Both parties' here refers to the Council and Veolia - are they transparent and fair to residents?

 Shahrar Ali, Brent Green Party spokesperson on the environment, said:

--> Brent's latest proposal to implement a green bin charge is ill-thought out. Environmentally, it sends the wrong signal to residents keen to recycle garden waste that is too thick or bulky to do so in their back gardens, but can be managed borough-wide. It discriminates against those who may be unable to do their own composting due to disabilities or other valid reasons. Also it treats residual grey bin waste fit for landfill as somehow more worthy of free collection than recyclable matter in the waste hierarchy. Financially, the imposition of such a flat charge for green bins is extraordinarily expensive for householders already facing real terms cuts in living standards. The Brent administration is clearly out of touch with the everyday pressures people face and its own environmental responsibilities, even to propose such a change,Comments on Wembley Matters and the Kilburn Times website include fears that in order to avoid the charges people  will resort to the fly-tipping of garden waste or its burning, leading to increased air pollution, and it might even accelerate the paving over of gardens.

The current charges for Brent's Household Reuse and Recycling Centre can be found HERE

Council bid to increase food waste collection

Brent Council is to bid for government funding to extend the collection of food waste to326 blocks of flats  (8,600 households) and to distribute biodegradable caddy liners to street level homes to sustain and increase recycling of food waste.

The bid is worth £312,638 over three years and is part of the government funding to encourage weekly waste collections. Brent officers in their report reject that as a proposition for residual waste and recycling claiming that the present scheme fortnightly scheme is a success and saves a projected £1m annually. Food waste is collected weekly alongside garden waste.

Officers warn that the funding is already over-subscribed so it is by no means certain that Brent's bid will be successful.

Although the extension to flats is welcome I would hope that in line with the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle slogan that the Council will also encourage the reduction of food waste through an educational process that could involve families and retailers. There are many ideas on Love Food Hate Waste LINK

I would also be interested to find out if food waste is collected for composting from all Brent's schools.