Leaked government documents revealing plans for a ‘pay-as-you-throw' charge for household rubbish have been branded ‘unnecessary' by council leaders. LGA chairman, Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, said: ‘The proposed blanket introduction of waste charging is unhelpful and unnecessary. ‘Only councils, working on the ground with local people, have the knowledge and expertise to decide how best to encourage residents to understand the consequence of us throwing away more each year and to take more responsibility for their rubbish. ‘The one-size-fits-all approach put forward by Number 10 flies in the face of devolution and giving local people the chance to have their say on the issues that will affect them,' he said. The charge plans were exposed in a leaked report from the Number 10 Strategy Unit and come as the LGA has already launched its own ‘war on waste' campaign against food packaging. As part of this, council leaders are calling on manufacturers to cut down on the excessive packaging which constitutes 5m tonnes of annual household rubbish. Hampshire CC is taking the lead by asking residents to contact their trading standards department with examples of excessive packaging which can be taken up directly with manufacturers.
