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Time was when central government, in the face of difficult decisions on complex and controversial subjects, would set up an independent commission, sometimes a royal commission, to consider the issues. Local authorities have started to adopt this approach to the difficult questions of the 21st century, and Essex CC has used a commission of its own to provide advice on its waste-management programme. Royal commissions sometimes went on for years. The Essex version was a lot more businesslike and streamlined, beginning its work last September, and completing its report in December. It was set up to answer a number of questions which have been controversial in Essex – as in other authorities – for years. Questions such as, what level of recycling waste is achievable? Is the private-finance initiative the right funding route for large-scale investment? What are the best technological options? Before major decisions were made, involving expenditure of more than £4bn over 25 years, the leader and chief executive of the county council wanted an independent view on available options. The first thing we, as consultants, did was to seek the views of a council which had run a successful commission on a very different but equally-controversial set of issues – Newham LBC, whose commission looked at the case for a casino in its area. The council was immensely helpful – as local authorities invariably are when one has the sense to ask another about good practice – with advice on both tactics and strategy. We decided on five commissioners, to bring a broad perspective to a wide-ranging subject – David Fisk, of Imperial College, formerly chief scientific adviser to the ODPM; Stuart Archbold, a corporate finance expert at Kingston Business School; Tony Travers, economist and local government expert at the LSE; Jeff Cooper, president of the Institute of Waste Management; and myself as chairman. Only Mr Cooper was an expert in the subject, so we enlisted the support of two advisers, Brian Standen of the 4Ps and David Greenfield of the South East Regional Centre of Excellence. We based our approach on that of a parliamentary select committee as a good model for non-experts seeking a range of views on a technical subject. We took evidence from 32 witnesses, in 19 sessions, over three days, including that of members and officers from Essex CC, other local authorities and partner organisations, civil servants, academics, financiers and waste management contractors. Most of those we approached were happy, or at least willing, to give evidence freely and frankly. The hearings were held in private, mainly to protect commercial confidentiality, but the process was not secret, and our report is now public. It was not the commission's job to become expert in the subject or to invent a new waste strategy for Essex. Our task was to assess the robustness of the existing strategy of the council and its partners. We were able to do so by having a good mix of witnesses, providing expertise. The commission also had strong support from within the county council, starting with an excellent secretariat. The officer team responsible for the existing waste strategy was understandably sceptical about the commission, but the team was helpful throughout and provided all the evidence we asked for, and more. The result was a report with 18 recommendations, some of them endorsing, some challenging the direction of the existing strategy. The county council welcomed our recommendations, although it has not accepted all of them. Nor would I have expected it to do so. What we were able to do was clarify the basis on which difficult decisions would be made. The process we used was a good one for our subject. Others will work better in different cases. Essex's next inquiry, on the A12, will be much more of a public exercise. When they work well, commissions can bring in external views and innovative ideas at the same time as complementing effective member scrutiny. The waste commission had a clear set of objectives, a firm timetable and good officer support. It did not take long nor did it cost much. He learned from Newham. I hope that others will learn from us. Neil Kinghan is a consultant

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WHITEHALL

On commission

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