Parliamentary Brief: Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill has its Second Reading in the House of Commons today (Monday 22 January).

The Bill will place a statutory duty to co-operate in agreeing and having regard to local improvement targets in Local Area Agreements between upper tier local authorities and partner authorities, which include waste disposal authorities.

The Government has today announced that it will seek to amend the Bill in Committee to allow two or more English local authorities to establish a Joint Waste Authority. The government is keen for councils to group together to run waste and recycling services on a more efficient footing, benefiting from economies of scale in service provision as well as strengthening the procurement of new long-term waste contracts.

The powers will be entirely voluntary, for the councils to apply for rather than the government to impose. The joint arrangements could apply to waste disposal, collection or street cleansing functions.

It will not affect planning powers, as changes in the Greater London Authority Bill are doing, but could see pooled targets made statutory. Ministers have specifically ruled out creating a Single Waste Authority for London.