A proposed budget of more than £40 million for the next financial year for waste disposal in Cumbria has been agreed by the joint executive committee of Westmorland & Furness and Cumberland Council.
Members of the joint executive committee met at Voreda House in Penrith on Friday (22nd November) to consider recommendations on waste services outlined in a report.
The Waste Inter Authority Agreement Joint Budget Review included officer recommendations to approve the overall waste disposal budget for 2024/25 with a combined budget value of £42.810 million.
Approve the review of the Waste Inter Authority Agreement; Note that a further report will be brought to the committee for its consideration with any recommendations arising from the review of the Waste Inter Authority Agreement.
Graham Harrison, a project manager at Cumberland Council, said there was work still to be done on two aspects of the budget and, according to his report this includes:
The overall waste disposal budget for the financial year for the hosted service;
The share of the waste disposal budget between the host and the client authority.
Members agreed the recommendations and noted that the budget would be brought back to the committee at a future meeting.
According to the report Cumberland Council is the host and Westmorland and Furness Council is the recipient or client authority for the management of the Waste Disposal Contract.
Under the hosted arrangements, like other such hosted service areas, the financial budgets were agreed on a population-based split which weighted at 54 percent in Cumberland Council and 46 percent in the Westmorland & Furness Council administrative areas (except for Waste Management Team budget split 50/50 between the two councils.
Officers said the reasons for the recommendations were that by agreeing the budget for 2024/25 it would allow effective forecasting for the host service and for each authority that are both due to set their budgets and council tax demands for 2025/26.
The £40million joint waste disposal budget and services cover the disposal of waste previously delivered by the former Cumbria County Council with waste collection handled by both councils separately and previously handled by the former district councils.
Westmorland and Furness Council is currently inviting residents to help shape the future of waste and recycling collections in Westmorland and Furness as part of a consultation.
To be part of the Community Conversation on the future of waste and recycling services in Westmorland and Furness, you can share your thoughts on current services in your area by completing the survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/WFwastesurvey
The survey will close on 20 December 2024
This article includes parts written by Ian Duncan Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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