I have never been one for the Walking Dead type programmes but with all the flooding and the Coronavirus there is a depressing feel to the world at the moment and a thought of why bother? That said it is not the LARAC way and for now at least the wheels keep on turning and things carry on.
As you will have read in our recent briefing note there is lots of engagement happening regarding consistency, DRS and EPR, with weekly meetings of various engagement groups. I myself had two last week and another this week, when the floods allowed me out of the village and where I needed to go. I hope you found the briefing note useful and it told you enough to make it feel worth sending. As we said it is a balancing act between telling you something that is meaningful while at the same time respecting the confidential nature of a lot of these meetings.
I don’t think it is an understatement to say these meetings are going to inform and shape what the next set of consultations will look like and some of the proposals they may contain. The strength of LARAC is we can field Executive members who are serving local authority officers, from all types of authority, as well as full time resources like me that means we can attend as many meetings as possible. Given we have over 300 members – all of you – it also means our points of view carry weight and are informed and purposeful.
While consistency may only be applicable to England, EPR and DRS are UK wide (with Scotland ahead on DRS) and there is closer working with the Devolved administrations that means there is likely to be cross over with the consistency stuff going forward. So, it may not feel that much is progressing currently, but I can assure you it definitely is and that there is a lot of work happening behind the scenes. We hope to update you with another briefing note in due course.
It is this sort of work, the advocacy and informing others about the local authority world and issues where I think LARAC has really repaid the members and their membership fee over the years. I have been going to these meetings on and off with LARAC since 2002 (yes, I know) and these are some of, if not the, most important for local authorities that I can remember. The possible changes and implications on the rules and regulations you all work to could be far reaching and we are doing all we can to ensure that they are fair for local authorities and work for us.
