LARAC has expressed its disappointment following the Autumn Statement. With DEFRA facing a large cut and the funding of local authorities through DCLG being cut by over half in the next five years LARAC has questioned the Government’s commitment and ability to meet the 50% recycling target by 2020. With five years of cuts already heaped on councils these latest cuts and the likelihood of more to come mean that authorities will be forced to further review waste and recycling services and that cuts in them are becoming almost inevitable. LARAC also worries that these latest cuts means that local authorities' ability to introduce new or expanded services has been severely restricted to the point of stifling any growth in the recycling rate. LARAC has called on the wider waste industry to engage with councils in a positive manner if they want to see more resources recovered from the household waste stream.
Lee Marshall, Chief Executive Officer LARAC, said “Given that cuts in budgets for DCLG and DEFRA were trailed prior to the Autumn Statement the actual cuts come as no surprise, but that does not make them any less welcome. Local authorities have endured five years of cuts already that has seen a large reduction in central government funding for councils. The ability to squeeze even more efficiencies without reducing services is going to be extremely hard. The industry might have to expect minimal new services from councils unless they are prepared to invest and support local authorities. Council officers have done a great job in still increasing recycling in the face of the cuts in the last five years but there is a limit to what even their hard work can achieve.”
LARAC points out that local authorities were already committed to an efficiency drive years before the last Parliament made deep cuts in their funding. Whilst the CIWM Ricardo AEA report this year on austerity measures showed how councils continue to innovate, no organisation can absorb cuts of these levels without considering reductions in their services. LARAC members have worked hard to increase recycling levels throughout the budget cuts but these further cuts will severely challenge them in the coming years.
