§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what criteria his Department uses to evaluate the environmental and waste management activity of local authorities. [52822]
§ Mr. MeacherMy Department does not systematically evaluate the waste management performance of individual local authorities. Different waste management choices will make environmental sense in different local authority areas, depending on geography and local markets.
Information and statistics on local authority waste management are available in "Municipal Waste Management 1995–96", published by my Department last year; data on 1996–97 are due to be published shortly.
The consultation paper "Less waste: more value" explains our view that there is a case for individual local authorities or regions to be given an indication of the contribution towards national targets that the Government expect from them, taking into account their geographical circumstances. We are also considering what performance indicators on waste management should be prescribed under the new Best Value regime for local authority services, to support local accountability.