Decision details

The purpose of this report is to propose changes to the level of subsidy in kind provided by the Council in respect of waste disposal at its Waste Transfer Stations and Household Recycling Centres by Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Sector organisations, Housing Associations and schools. 

Currently, HRC Discretionary Passes are provided on application for these organisations to gain free and unlimited access to the Council’s Household Recycling Centres (HRC).  Notably, a further 8 VCSE organisations have been permitted to dispose of their residual waste free of charge at two Waste Transfer Stations in the county.  This is due to the large amounts of waste they regularly deliver, and to ensure that this does not impede the access of residents for which the HRCs are provided.  The Council has no statutory duty to provide free disposal of waste from non-residents, whether charities, schools or housing associations.

It is proposed that VCSE organisations will no longer be allowed to dispose of waste free of charge at Waste Transfer Stations provided by the Council’s contractors.  In addition, VCSE organisations wishing to dispose of recyclables at the Council’s HRCs will be able to continue to do so after applying and paying for a chargeable access permit.  The charge is to be set at £44 for 6 HRC visits a year, and £70 for up to 12 HRC visits per year, with charges subject to annual uplifts in line with the Council’s other Fees and Charges. 

I approvethat, with effect from 5 September 2016:

(i)            VCSE organisations will no longer be allowed to dispose of waste free of charge at Waste Transfer Stations provided by the Council’s contractors. 

(ii)           VCSE organisations wishing to dispose of recyclables at the Council’s Household Recycling Centres will be able to continue to do so after applying and paying for a chargeable access permit.  The charge is to be set at £44 for 6 HRC visits a year, and £70 for up to 12 HRC visits per year.

(iii)          The 27 schools currently in receipt of a HRC Discretionary Pass will be advised that they will no longer be able to access the HRCs for their waste disposal.

(iv)         The 7 Housing Associations currently in receipt of a HRC Discretionary Pass will be advised that they will no longer be able to access the HRCs for their waste disposal.

This decision was published on 7 June 2016 and will come into force on 15 June 2016.

This review in policy is required in order to achieve challenging savings targets in the face of reducing central government grants and increasing demands on key council services.  The Council has no statutory duty to continue to provide such “benefits in kind” to VCSE organisations in the form of free disposal at its sites.  The Council estimates that this revised approach will allow the avoidance of up to £40,000 of direct waste handling and disposal costs in 2016/17.

No further options have been considered at this time.

In accordance with the obligations under the Wiltshire Compact agreement, officers have written to current recipients of HRC Discretionary Passes, which enable VCSE organisations to use HRCs and waste transfer stations free of charge, to outline the proposal and have provided a 12 week consultation period.  This ended on 18 April 2016, with responses from 11 VCSE organisations received, 3 of which were from organisations not currently in receipt of a Discretionary HRC Pass in Wiltshire.  The proposal has also been discussed with the Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Development Management, Strategic Housing, Operational Property and Waste and forms part of the savings proposals for Waste Services as set out in the Council’s 2016/17 budget.  In line with the Wiltshire Compact agreement, officers intend to provide a further 12 weeks notifications period before the changes are implemented, following this decision.  The consultation responses are summarised in section 19 of the attached report.