You will be aware that LARAC released a policy paper a short time ago looking at possible future of funding for local authorities. It was designed to raise the issue and ask questions more than it was designed to provide the answers, although we hoped that some of the answers were in there.
One of these policy areas we waded into was direct charging and it was predictably the one that raised the most eyebrows and created the most discussion. Perhaps less predictably was the response from with the industry. There was quite a lot of support for the concept of direct charging generally, notwithstanding the large hurdles that would need to be cleared for it to be adopted in the UK.
As a result, various organisations and companies have asked to come and talk to LARAC about it further. Now this may not lead anywhere, and we are not kidding ourselves into thinking direct charging will be on page one of the forthcoming Resource and Waste Strategy. But that was never the intention. (Yes, we would have welcomed it if it had!) The intention was to initiate and to lead the debate in this area of public sector waste funding. And it appears to have worked, the fact that we are being approached by others in the industry shows that. Up till now it has been the other way about, with LARAC seeking time with others to convey our message.
This is big step forward for LARAC and demonstrates that good things come to those who wait. Or rather those who persevere, work tirelessly for their members and build up a respected standing in the industry, and become pro-active, as LARAC has done over the years through the numerous volunteers who have served on the Executive.
Membership organisations have to demonstrate value to their members if they are to keep them and gain new ones. In the policy arena this can be difficult to demonstrate. It is always difficult to say that because we were at X meeting Y policy resulted in Z way. LARAC is trying to get better at showing that side of what we do, it is quite surprising when you can see it from the inside just how much we succeed in getting involved with the rest of the industry to inform policy.
If direct charging does make it into the forthcoming Resource and Waste Strategy – in a positive way – then LARAC can claim a big part of making that happen. It may only get a mention as something to consider in ten years’ time once lots of other things have happened. But if it does that is huge step forward from the Pickle years of slop buckets and the right to a weekly residual collection. Who knows where our next big policy paper might take us?
