Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report introduced by Victoria Burgess from East Lindsey District Council which advised that Defra was seeking views of the revised duty of care Code of Practice and were inviting comments on whether it offered clear, fit for purpose and practical guidance to holders of waste.

It was reported that the Duty of Care was set out in Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was a legal requirement for those dealing with certain kinds of waste to take all reasonable steps to keep it safe.  This ensured that waste was dealt with responsibly, and described and treated correctly.  Compliance with the duty of care helped to prevent waste crime and fly-tipping.

The purpose of the Code of Practice was to give simple, clear and practical guidance on what those who import, produce, carry, keep, treat or dispose of controlled waste have to do to fulfil their legal duty of care obligations; it did not amend the legislation.  The changes to the Code of Practice had been made to reflect the legislative changes made to the duty of care since the Code of Practice was published in March 1996 and to promote the awareness of it.  The consultation requested responses to 10 questions and the proposed LWP responses had been circulated to the Partnership for discussion.

In response to one of the consultation questions it was commented that from a local authority perspective the guidance was clear and concise, however, the obligations on the occupier of a domestic property may need to be made clearer.  For example, the term 'waste holder' may not be obvious to a member of the public that this referred to an ordinary household.

It was also highlighted to the Partnership that in response to the question regarding whether the signposting of other legislative requirements in Section 4 was useful, that the signposting of the relevant information in this document was useful.  It was also thought that it would be useful to know how the revised Code of Practice would be publicised once it was finalised, specifically in relation to raising awareness of householders.

The Partnership was provided with the opportunity to discuss the proposed consultation responses and some of the points raised included the following:

·         The revised Code of Practice was now only 11 pages long, the main change was that it included links to the additional information, and had been adapted so it could be accessed online.

·         The revised version was considered to be more user friendly and used less legal language.

·         It was felt that for residents it was still not clear that they were waste holders and that they had a duty of care.  It was considered important that it was explained to residents the part they can play in reducing fly tipping.

·         It was commented that it would probably be the role of the Partnership rather than Defra to get these messages out to residents.

·         It was suggested whether a picture guide could be produced for residents which showed what a legitimate licence looked like, when employing people to remove waste from a property.  It was also suggested that this could be done through County News.

RESOLVED

            That the proposed consultation responses on behalf of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership be agreed.