Briefings and responses

Local government wants to see measures that reduce the amount of unnecessary and unrecyclable material becoming an issue in the first place.

The LGA support the Government’s ambition to protect consumers from unfair pricing by enabling an extension of the price cap beyond 2023

The LGA’s recommendations for tackling urgent risks from air pollution based on the themes set out in the revised National Air Pollution Control Programme.

As place leaders, asset owners and significant purchasers, local leaders have the ability to impact on more than a third of emissions across villages, towns and cities.

We support the Government’s ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Producers must do more to ensure that packaging is easily recyclable. This would make waste disposal easier for our residents, and save considerable amounts of money, whilst protecting our environment.

The ability of local government to take the lead on climate change is restricted by financial constraints on councils, a lack of devolved powers, challenges with monitoring and implementation and a lack of awareness of the agenda.

Fly-tipping is an environmental and public health hazard. It blights our streets and green spaces, and often rewards criminal activity. Local authorities want to work with the Government to strengthen deterrents to fly-tipping and ensure those who illegally dump waste are punished.

Councils have been successful in establishing recycling infrastructure and services. 99 per cent of local authorities currently collect plastic bottles, and over half (52 per cent) provide drop off points for plastics.

Waste and recycling are among the most valued services any council provides. They are used by all council taxpayers and represent the third biggest spend item in a council’s budget. A doubling of spend by councils to £3.28 billion has seen recycling rates improve 400 per cent in the last decade.

We support the intention of the Government’s proposals to future-proof new build homes with low carbon heating and world-leading levels of energy efficiency. The Government’s manifesto commitment for a £3.8 billion capital Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is positive. We look forward to working with the Government to ensure effective implementation.