§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the accuracy of the formula applied to calculate recycling rates of local authorities. [153432]
Mr. Robert AinsworthInformation on the amount of waste collected and recycled by local authorities is obtained on an annual basis through the Department's annual Municipal Waste Management Survey. It is this information that is used to calculate household waste recycling rates at the national and local level. The proposed methodology for calculating the percentage of household waste recycled by local authorities in England was published in the consultation document "Best Value and Audit Commission Performance Indicators for 2001–02" in October 2000. The responses to the consultation exercise were taken into account in producing the final methodology published in Annexe A of the "Guidance on Municipal Waste Management Strategies" on 5 March 2001. A copy of the guidance has been placed in the House of Commons Library.