LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: North London Waste Authority

North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is a well-led and ambitious authority. It works collaboratively and with purpose with all of its seven member authorities, to deliver day-to-day waste processing and minimisation services, while successfully managing a major redevelopment of the Edmonton EcoPark site to provide innovative new facilities to enable constituent boroughs and residents to meet their waste and recycling ambitions. A passion for the work they do to reduce waste and inform, educate, and influence recycling and reuse behaviours, shines through the organisation, modelled by the commitment of staff, members, and relationships with partners.

The political leadership within the authority is strong and stable, providing the required platform to meet waste targets and continue to innovate, while completing an ambitious development of the EcoPark through the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP). This nationally significant infrastructure project includes replacing the energy recovery facility, developing waste management assets and redeveloping a community building. Major contracts are being managed for the NLHPP and the Authority’s wider activities with contractors and providers including Acciona, Biffa and wholly-owned companies like London Energy Ltd (LEL).

The commitment and enthusiasm of the chair is widely recognised and praised both internally and externally. There is excellent engagement and buy-in from both members and officers of the constituent boroughs in NLWA’s work and the development of the new facility. The purpose and vision of the authority is well understood by the NLWA Members (councillors from the constituent boroughs), who draw on their experience of executive or committee roles in their home boroughs to add valuable strength to NLWA governance. Members demonstrated to the peer team their understanding and appreciation of the scale of the task at hand in their decision-making roles, and their commitment to achieving waste minimisation targets and delivering waste processing facilitates that are up to the task to deliver the authority’s future waste ambition and capacity.

The managing director has been praised by staff, members and partners for successfully reshaping NLWA structures and leading effectively to enable NLWA to deliver both business-as-usual waste processing services and an ambitious redevelopment programme. The staff team at NLWA is focused, clear on the values of the organisation, and highly regarded by partners and stakeholders, who described the team as high calibre, professional, and highly responsive to queries. The staff group has grown and been reconfigured over recent years to meet the needs of the organisation and increasing demands to deliver the North London Heat and Power project (NLHPP).

Partners working with NLWA both strategically and on the delivery side feel well supported and engaged with the business of the authority. NLWA is working with communities. This includes through the NLHPP Community Liaison Group, in addition the North London Community Fund provides valuable support, information and funding to promote and facilitate locally based reuse and recycling projects. NLWA also provides consistent and regular updates to partners and the community on the development progress at the EcoPark. Progress on the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP) is prominent in the external communications from the NLWA, which also includes showing how the new facilities will be environmentally beneficial.

NLWA finances are well managed, and the peer team heard that the relationship between NLWA and the boroughs is strong, especially around financial management, and has positively developed over the past 12-14 years. Members and officers from the constituent boroughs feel that the current financial charging mechanism works and enables them to manage their budgets well. NLWA is gaining financially this year from increases to wholesale energy prices for the energy created from the heat and power plant, and income from recyclate sales being twice as high as budgeted due to increased demand, resulting in projected headroom in the 2022/23 budget. The result of this is a rebate to the constituent councils of the levy.

The peer team felt that NLWA is in a good position to work through the changes in overall project cost of the EcoPark that the current financial situation of high inflation has caused. Finance leads in the constituent boroughs reported being well-briefed and informed on project costs and delivery timescales. Work to understand the impact of levy changes once the new facility is operational in 2026 has begun and must continue to ensure that boroughs are prepared for the significant financial changes.

NLWA has welcomed the opportunity for their work to be held up to scrutiny and the peer team has identified opportunities that the authority may wish to consider for additional transparency, including changes to working group structures and a refresh of the audit committee function, exploring the opportunity to inject input from external specialists.

There are a number of observations and suggestions within the main section of the report. The following are the peer team’s key recommendations to the authority

1. Consider taking the opportunity to lead and coordinate on waste reduction and recycling activity, including increased engagement with communities.
2. The current arrangements provide a level of technical challenge to its plans, but the Authority may benefit from more opportunities for wider oversight and challenge.
3. Build on relationships with the boroughs to collaborate more on communications and engagement activity for greater impact.
4. The authority would benefit from a wider dissemination of outturn cost of the NLHPP and on how to manage the inevitable maintenance and replacement costs involved in the life cycle of the facilities
5. While the major project is demanding, it is important to keep resource allocation under review and ensure the Authority is driving progress across its full agenda.
6. Consider the potential benefits of having some independent membership on the audit committee.
7. Look to deepen and add structure to working groups and briefing sessions to provide records that aid the transparency of the work of NLWA.
8. More work could be done with collection authorities on how to minimise recyclable materials in residual waste.
9. Build more robust campaign targets for behaviour change together with the boroughs linked to the waste prevention plan.
10. Continue to build and enhance the knowledge and engagement of the wider council membership across the seven boroughs

The peer team

Peer challenges are delivered by experienced elected member and officer peers. The make-up of the peer team reflected the focus of the peer challenge and peers were selected on the basis of their relevant expertise. The peers were:

• Rob Tinlin, Lead Officer peer
• Cllr Simon Henig, Member peer, Durham County Council
• Cllr Alan Jarrett, Member peer, Leader of Medway Council
• Chris Buss, Treasurer (sec 73 officer) Western Riverside Waste Authority
• Kerry Middleton, Head of Communications, Marketing & Engagement, Oxfordshire County Council
• Daniel Dickinson, Head of Legal & Governance Services, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
• Rebecca Ireland - LGA Peer Challenge Manager

Scope and focus

The peer team considered the following five themes which form the core components of all Corporate Peer Challenges. These areas are critical to an authority’s performance and improvement.

1. Local priorities and outcomes - Are the authority’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? Is the authority delivering effectively on its priorities?
2. Organisational and place leadership - Does the authority provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?
3. Governance and culture - Are there clear and robust governance arrangements? Is there a culture of challenge and scrutiny?
4. Financial planning and management - Does the authority have a grip on its current financial position? Does the authority have a strategy and a plan to address its financial challenges?
5. Capacity for improvement - Is the organisation able to support delivery of local priorities? Does the authority have the capacity to improve?

The peer challenge process

Peer challenges are improvement-focused; it is important to stress that this was not an inspection. The process is not designed to provide an in-depth or technical assessment of plans and proposals. The peer team used their experience and knowledge of local government to reflect on the information presented to them by people they met, things they saw, and material that they read.

The peer team prepared by reviewing a range of documents and information to ensure they were familiar with the authority and the challenges it is facing. The peer team then spent three days onsite during which they:

1. Gathered information and views from more than 35 meetings, including a visit to the Edmonton EcoPark, in addition to further research and reading.
2. Spoke to more than 52 people including a range of authority staff together with members and external stakeholders.

This report provides a summary of the peer team’s findings. In presenting feedback, they have done so as fellow local government officers and members.

NLWA provides essential waste services for 2 million people across their constituent boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest. NLWA has a clear, published vision and a set of priorities, with its mission described in four broad goals:

• Reduce residual waste
• Manage waste disposal
• Secure long-term waste management
• Support members and ensure effective decision making

The authority in its business plan offers that its wider purpose should reflect that waste represents lost or depleted resources to the planet and NLWA’s ‘ultimate mission is, therefore, to preserve resources and the environment for future generations’.

This vision and priorities of NLWA are understood and appreciated by the senior NLWA executive team and by the fourteen NLWA Members, who are drawn from across the seven constituent boroughs. There is clear buy-in from the wider members in the constituent boroughs, with both the Authority and the NLWA executive team working hard to keep boroughs linked to their mission and values, and to make progress against stated priorities and performance targets.

Regular meetings with the environment and finance directors from the local authorities are considered useful and effective to disseminate information and discuss policy areas that affect the seven constituent boroughs.

The authority is right to be proud of the success in managing the complexity of the waste management operation and a major construction project. The NLHPP is well managed and set to deliver a facility that will meet the demands of the future and connect to a heat network to reduce carbon intensity and produce lower-cost heat and hot water for residents.

Ensuring social value as part of NLWA delivery is very important to the authority. Its commitment to this is demonstrated through its ambitious job creation activity, utilising the contracts it has with Acciona, its lead contractor for the new Energy Recovery Facility and relationships with other partners to support more job opportunities, including a target of creating 100 skilled apprenticeships and access to 225 on-site skills training placements. Delivery against these targets at the time of the review stood at 28 apprenticeships underway and 141 on-site training placements.

Education is also at the heart of the work of the authority and the new EcoPark will include the redevelopment of a space to be used by the Sea Cadets including space for community engagement and education. This complements the outreach activity done by NLWA into schools and communities providing information about reuse, recycling, and waste minimisation.

A recent development for the authority has been the expansion of the North London Community Fund to £250,000 this year, with community groups receiving grants of up to £15k. The peer team spoke to some of those projects in receipt of funding and all were grateful to receive the support and complementary about the ease with which the grant-making process could be navigated. The peer team recommends that now this grant system is established NLWA could look at how it can promote the success and positive outcomes achieved back to both the constituent boroughs and more widely across London and the South East.

Looking at how to share best practice and take an even more proactive and coordinating role leading on delivering key messaging on waste reduction and recycling activities across North London was an area the peer team felt NLWA might wish to consider. Stepping into that space is already something that members have wanted to do more of through communications and engagement activity.

The carbon capture and storage work being done by NLWA was highlighted by the peer team as impressive and ambitious. NLWA must continue to be successful in navigating the difficult task of managing and understanding new and emerging technologies while keeping a balance with other authority priorities.

The peer team heard of the difficulties of achieving the recyclable materials targets when the stock type of the boroughs includes a high number of flats and housing in multiple occupation. This difficulty will be felt within the boroughs and the peer team suggested that the authority could do more work with them on minimising recyclable material in residual waste. The reality is that the building composition type is unlikely to change and therefore a combined approach to seeking solutions that work locally would benefit all members boroughs. Working together to research and implement innovative solutions to this issue could benefit all constituent members.

The authority is already in a good place to expand upon its work with boroughs as demonstrated by the request from members in 2022 to create the Waste Prevention Plan 2022-25. In this case, members requested more collaboration, which led to an expansion of authority activity with community groups and included additional workshops facilitated by NLWA staff with community organisations.

The peer team was of the view that the NLWA is in a unique position to build and enhance the knowledge and engagement of the wider council membership across the seven boroughs. NLWA Members and the staff in the working groups are ambassadors for the Authority and can attest to the totality of the work at NLWA. Examples were shared with the peer team of occasions where NLWA have been asked to attend council meetings and that these requests were met enthusiastically and quickly by NLWA staff. These meetings have been well-received by constituent councils, and the peer team would suggest that NLWA might want to engage even more proactively with boroughs to inform and advise on waste authority activity, and to discuss opportunities for wider waste minimisation activity all boroughs could undertake.

The NLWA benefits from strong and recognised leadership from both the chair and the managing director. The peer team heard of how the chair’s length of tenure has provided a continuity of focus, drive, and ambition and is seen as a major positive contributing factor to the positive future direction of the authority.

NLWA also has an experienced and well-respected staff team, which is resourced to provide good core services and manage the creation of an innovative and ambitious new heat and power facility on the existing site. The peer team identified that ensuring the right balance between the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP) and the core NLWA business is critical and an area they would recommend the authority reviews regularly.

The senior executive team has worked hard to create a staff team that meets the business need, including realigning sections to achieve a better and more open relationship with boroughs.

The peer team heard about the improvements to the communications team around its responsiveness and the quality of its communication products. It was felt that there had been a marked improvement in this area, noted by members and staff in the constituent boroughs and by partners and stakeholders. The peer team noted that more could be done to further hone NLWA’s messaging and more closely monitor engagement levels and the impact of communications activity. For example, data driven insight and segmented audience research could be used to build more robust campaign targets and metrics for behaviour change linked to the waste prevention plan. Building on successes and lessons learned from campaigns such as ‘Not a minute to waste’ and the 2022 stakeholder workshops, might involve commissioning deeper analysis of social media engagement of video content, such as going beyond reach and impression numbers, to length of time viewed in relation to key message placement, for example. Similarly, closer working with the constituent boroughs could enhance the effectiveness of campaigns.

NLWA’s brand has developed and improved in the past 12 months across its partnership networks. Communications about the NLHPP are clear and regular. There is a clear opportunity for further brand development and recognition, not only locally with residents and communities, but also regionally and nationally. NLWA could consider a wider media strategy to build an external profile, including with residents, and position NLWA as a sector leader in its field, supported by a digital strategy across all channels with a clear growth plan for wider audience reach. The peer team felt that the constituent boroughs could do more to assist with the external profile of NLWA by setting out on their individual council websites information about NLWA including information and links to the work NLWA does on behalf of the authority, and across North London.

The chair and the managing director of NLWA have established a strong and positive relationship and work hard alongside the board members from the constituent boroughs to deliver a good stable waste disposal service while managing a major site redevelopment.

The authority’s governance structures are robust with formal and informal structures to agree on priorities and the delivery of projects. NLWA holds five full Authority meetings a year where strategic decisions are made. These meetings are open to members of the public and available online. In addition, a programme committee meets with similar frequency, to ensure there is regular oversight of progress and issues on the North London Heat and Power Project (NLHPP). There is also an audit committee. Meetings of the committees are also held in public and streamed online. The frequency and easy access to these meetings assists NLWA to manage their decisions effectively and demonstrates their aim to be open, transparent, and accountable to members, staff, and stakeholders. Both members and staff described these meetings to the peer team as well-run and productive.

In addition to these public meetings, there are informal structures that sit behind the formal ones, including two member working groups meeting regularly to inform and shape the Authority’s work, and meetings where groups of borough and NLWA officers meet. The peer team heard from members and staff how useful these meetings are to aiding understanding of the decisions that need to be made. The peer team was of the view that additional benefits could be achieved by adding some structure around these meetings, to further enhance the authority’s work and commitment to being open, transparent, and accountable. For example, though opportunities for scrutiny and challenge are available in current meeting structures, the peer team heard that in some meetings there is insufficient time to do more than review the reports and briefings presented for consideration. Adding more structure to the informal meetings may enable space to be carved out for more strategic thinking and constructive challenge. Additionally, NLWA may wish to look at refreshing the current format of the audit committee to allow time to inject more opportunities for wider oversight and challenge.

In addition to this, the peer team would recommend a refresh of the audit committee focus, with the aim of increasing transparency and bringing in different perspectives. NLWA might wish to consider the opportunity for having independent members. Given the unusual category of NLWA and the rules governing this type of local authority, the ability to make such changes will need to be explored with the support of the monitoring officer.

NLWA has a set annual budget of £76.7m for 2022/23, with most of the income for the authority coming from a levy paid by each council. The year-end position is likely to come in under budget, with the authority citing contract efficiencies, lower waste volumes, income from recyclable materials and higher electricity prices from LondonEnergy Ltd, which is wholly owned by NLWA, as the reasons for this.

Borough finance representatives reported that there has been an increase in transparency and openness over the past few years, and this has been achieved through the hard work and willingness of the constituent boroughs to cooperate to achieve NLWA and borough ambition, vision, and needs.

Boroughs reported feeling well-informed about the routine costs but also on the NLHPP. In meetings with the peer team, they demonstrated being involved in borrowing decisions, were supportive of the authority’s strategic direction, and aware of the future financial pressures and increase in the levy. Borough representatives were clear that they are making arrangements to dampen the impact of the increase in the levy.

The authority could benefit from a wider dissemination of the likely outturn costs of the NLHPP which are still being reported at 2019 prices and how to manage the inevitable maintenance and replacement costs involved in the life cycle of the facilities. This is important to maintain high levels of trust, transparency and accountability with member boroughs and ensure that long-term planning continues to be based on the latest information to ensure adequate funds are available.

NLWA would also benefit from having an asset management strategy that is integrated into the organisation’s capital strategy. The peer team would recommend this be a priority for the organisation to ensure there is a clear roadmap for asset-related decisions, optimising the use of authority resources while minimising risks and helping to ensure regulatory compliance of all assets.

NLWA Members are an asset and strength of the organisation with their imagination and ambition to enhance the authority, this should be appreciated and celebrated, and then built upon for future success. The appetite within NLWA and LEL to improve is clear and commendable.

The workforce is very skilled and staff feedback was comparable to that of an organisation with a healthy, busy, and ambitious culture. Ensuring all staff – whether those involved in the NLHPP, the staff at recycling centres, or core business staff – feel connected and part of the wider organisation and its mission is a challenge, but one the peer team felt the authority appreciates and can continue to work on.

The innovation explored and harnessed by NLWA is very impressive. Examples of work to recycle mattresses and polystyrene were praised by the peer team. The carbon capture technology is again an area that will bring great benefit locally but also globally. NLWA prides itself on continuously looking at ways to improve the performance of its facilities and is working hard at futureproofing demand and technology through  the NLHPP. It’s important that NLWA continue seek out and trial innovative approaches to boost waste recovery and recycling.

NLWA is working hard on ways to engage effectively with local communities and the North London Community Fund is an example of its desire to support good, innovative, and grassroots schemes that help NLWA achieve its ultimate vision of preserving resources and the environment for future generations. As mentioned above, the peer team heard from the fund benefactors about the ease of application and support with the grant-making and monitoring process. It was discussed, however, that the short length of the grants, currently a year, made it difficult for the organisations supported to manage their projects and have the confidence that the project might continue and risk personal investment (time and money) in year-on-year improvements. The peer team felt that it would be worth NLWA looking again at this grant process and whether longer grants might be beneficial to the projects and the aims of NLWA, appreciating the plans NLWA already have to increase the grant pot.

NLWA might also want to consider how these groups work and communicate with each other and with similar projects in neighbouring areas. There might be a role for NLWA to play in connecting the project makers and thinkers, sharing learning and best practices, and looking at opportunities to encourage more recycling and reuse. The peer team heard of a strong appetite for this from the organisations they met with who had benefited from the grants. 

As noted above, the change in approach and leadership for communications over the last couple of years has been noted positively by partners. The external communications team is on a journey of improvement. To support this journey, the peer team made suggestions on collaborating more with the boroughs on campaign and community engagement activity to maximise impact, including building more robust campaign targets and metrics to measure these impacts and create real and lasting behaviour change. The peer team also suggested utilising wider media and digital opportunities to build brand recognition and grow its audience reach. Using insights gained from campaign activity and stakeholder workshops will be beneficial here. The peer team would recommend NLWA develops a strategy to capture this activity, linked to the waste prevention plan.

NLWA is looking at ways to support the workforce with training and development opportunities that are appropriate for the staff team. They are supplementing the support from their shared HR and OD with Camden Council with a resource dedicated to the current needs of NLWA. Reviewing the arrangement in the longer term is already on the authority's radar. Supporting this impressive staff team will better ensure a stable workforce.

Having the capacity to meet external challenges and change driven in part by the emerging government-led waste reform is an issue NLWA is alive to.  They are already strong in lobbying for change and for policies to assist the sector in achieving waste reduction and reuse objectives.

There is clear evidence that NLWA has been learning and adapting its structures and processes over the last five years to meet the changing demands of the business and achieve the innovation they aspire to. It was evident to the peer team that this change and transformation is led by the chair and the managing director and his team, with the authority benefitting from a positive and committed workforce.

It is recognised that senior political and managerial leadership will want to consider, discuss and reflect on these findings.

Both the peer team and LGA are keen to build on the relationships formed through the peer challenge. The CPC process includes a six-month check-in session, which  provides space for the authority’s senior leadership to update peers on its progress against the action plan and discuss next steps.

In the meantime, Kate Herbert, Principal Adviser for London, is the main contact between your authority and the Local Government Association. Kate is available to discuss any further support the council requires. [email protected]