Briefings and responses

The LGA’s response sets out our views on the draft regulations that will set up the new system of producer responsibility for packaging. This will require producers and manufacturers to pay councils for the cost of dealing with used packaging in household waste and recycling.

A short letter to the Economy Company Obligation Plus (ECO+) in response to the ECO+ consultation.

Over the past year our members have placed increased importance on the future of mobility and therefore it is a policy area where the LGA has become more active.

Councils would welcome greater flexibility on local revenue and capitalraising powers, to support their ability to manage local flood and coastal erosion risk management risks.

The LGA welcomes and supports the government’s ambition set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan for this to be the first generation that leaves the environment in a better state than that in which we inherited it. We also welcome and support the ambition to create a new, world-leading, statutory and independent environmental watchdog to hold government to account on our environmental ambitions and obligations.

Councils have demonstrated throughout the pandemic that they are uniquely placed to respond to local needs and reach their most vulnerable residents.

The LGA welcomes the increased focus on Local Nature Recovery and reversing the decline of biodiversity as set out in the Environment Bill, but government needs to consider all the measures to enhance nature, set out in the Environment Bill holistically, so as not to miss opportunities of efficiency.

Polluters, not councils, should pick up the cost of dealing with the increasingly complex and hazardous waste stream of electrical items.

Around 50 per cent of heat network customers in the UK are living in social housing , including council housing. It is critical that councils’ experiences and concerns about heat networks are taken fully into account as regulation is developed to make sure it works for those it is trying to support.

LGA polling in June 2021 found that 73 per cent of respondents most trusted their local councils compared to 17 per cent that most trusted government when it came to local decision making. Based on the results of this polling, government should strongly consider forming a close working relationship with councils, via the LGA, to help facilitate consumers in making the right technical and economic choices.