Waste
Section 37: Duties of waste collection authorities etc
89.Section 353 of the GLA Act 1999 requires the Mayor to prepare and publish a document known as the municipal waste management strategy. This sets the strategic direction for London’s waste activities. Section 355 of the 1999 Act requires waste collection authorities and waste disposal authorities in Greater London to “have regard to” the strategy in carrying out some of their waste functions.
90.Subsection (3) amends section 355 of the GLA Act 1999 so as to require waste collection and waste disposal authorities in Greater London to “act in general conformity with” the Mayor’s strategy. The duty will apply whenever those authorities exercise any of their waste functions under Part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This will allow the Mayor to have a stronger strategic role in the management of London’s waste.
91.Subsection (4) inserts a new subsection (2) into section 355 of the GLA Act 1999 to limit the duty on London waste authorities to “act in general conformity” with the strategy, so that it does not apply where to do so would impose “excessive additional costs” on the authority.
92.Subsection (5) inserts a series of new subsections into section 355 of the GLA Act 1999. New subsection (3) gives the Secretary of State the power to issue guidance setting out a definition of “general conformity” and “imposing excessive additional costs on an authority”. New subsection (4) requires waste collection authorities and waste disposal authorities in Greater London to act in accordance with the guidance.
93.New subsections (6) and (7) set out the limitations on the duty for waste authorities in Greater London to act in general conformity insofar as waste contracts are concerned. Subsection (6) provides that neither the duty nor any related guidance requires an authority to terminate a waste contract before the expiry of the term of the contract or to do anything which would result in a breach of any term of a waste contract. Subsection (7) provides that if the Mayor’s municipal waste management strategy is revised after the authority has sent the second information notice relating to the awarding of the contract to the Official Journal of the European Union, the duty and guidance apply as if the former strategy still had effect.
94.Subsection (6), a transitional provision, provides that the new duty to act in general conformity with the Mayor’s municipal waste management strategy and accompanying guidance does not apply in relation to the awarding of a waste contract if the authority had sent the second information notice relating to the awarding of the contract to the Official Journal of the European Union before the new duty comes into force.
Section 38: London Waste and Recycling Board
95.This section inserts into the GLA Act 1999 two new sections (sections 356A and 356B) which establish a London Waste and Recycling Board (“the Board”). The Board’s objectives are to promote within Greater London: the production of less waste; an increase in the proportion of waste which is re-used or recycled and the use of methods of collection, treatment and disposal of waste which are beneficial to the environment.
96.The Board can give financial assistance and provide advice in order to fulfil its objectives. In particular it may provide financial assistance in order to help provide waste facilities; undertake research into new technologies or techniques for the collection, treatment or disposal of waste; and assist London Boroughs and the City of London in their waste functions. The Board will have to act in accordance with the Mayor’s Municipal Waste Management Strategy and in general conformity with the London Plan.
97.Supplemental provision on the nature of the Board is laid out in section 356B. In particular it allows the Secretary of State, by order, to determine the Board’s constitution and membership. The number of members must be between 7 and 13. The Secretary of State may pay grants to the Board on such conditions as he may determine.
Section 39: Information about waste contracts
98.This section amends section 358 of the GLA Act 1999 on information about new waste contracts, and updates the 1999 Act following changes to public procurement legislation. It makes new provision that where an authority is not obliged either to send the European Commission a first information notice of its intention to tender a waste contract or to publish such a notice on the authority's buyer profile, but it is obliged to send a second information notice, the authority must inform the Mayor of its intention to tender. An authority is required to notify the Mayor 108 days before issuing the second information notice. Waste authorities that publish their intention to tender on the authority’s buyer profile as an alternative to issuing a first information notice will be required to give the Mayor 56 days prior notification. Where waste authorities are not required to comply with public procurement regulations, existing notification requirements under section 358(2) will continue to apply. The amendments will ensure that the Mayor is informed of all waste tenders in advance.
