Whatever happened to Joint Waste Authorities?

In February 2009 the Joint Waste Authorities (Proposals) Regulations came into force in England, paving the way for the creation of new statutory Joint Waste Authorities (JWAs), separate legal entities combining the functions of existing collection and disposal authorities.

Fast-forward to November 2011 and how many JWAs have been formed? The answer: zero.

The lack of take-up might be surprising, given that prior to the Regulations Defra stated that 30 local authorities had submitted expressions of interest to form JWAs, and central government has provided £1.3m in funding. But I think there are good reasons why local authorities have not taken the plunge.

Partnership working

There is no shortage of partnership working, even without JWAs. There are over 50 active waste partnerships in England, most grouped on a county basis under a range of governance arrangements and reflecting local priorities and conditions.

Partnership working can be the answer to a number of problems faced by local authorities:

• For those authorities trying to reduce procurement costs and the price of vehicles, treatment capacity or contracted out services, joint procurement exercises with other authorities can deliver.

• For those authorities trying to reduce in-house service costs, partnering with neighbouring collection authorities presents opportunities to share resources and rounds. A few authorities, like those in Somerset and Dorset, have embarked on more ambitious programmes including shared management and harmonisation of service delivery across boundaries.

Whilst silo-management and short term financial and political considerations continue to act as a disincentive to act on a ‘whole waste system’ level, the Landfill Tax is starting to encourage longer term thinking and an appreciation of the value of working together to minimise end-to-end costs to the tax payer.

JWA risks

True end-to-end partnership working offers a chance for real, long-term improvement but it requires sacrifice and a willingness to think beyond an authority’s individual interests. Only where this exists might a JWA seem like an attractive option. But the risks arising from the requirement for Secretary of State approval to form – or dissolve – a JWA, and the uncertainties and perils of being first mean that a JWA has proven to be less attractive than a more flexible partnership approach.

Authorities embarking on partnership working need to recognise their individual starting points and come to early agreement on the problems to be solved. If they can do this, partnership working can deliver real, system-wide savings. But even for those considering adopting a whole system approach, a Joint Waste Authority is unlikely to feel worth the risk.

—-For more information on partnership working in waste why not have a look at the Waste Partnerships Route Map developed by Eunomia Research & Consulting which can be found on IESE’s Waste Improvement Network website?—-