Community Sector: Support Programme
A new initiative to support the community waste sector was announced on 19 May 2004 by the Environment Minister, Elliot Morley at the Community Recycling Network's Annual Conference.Before the announcement, Defra consulted widely within the sector and with the local government community and the final details of the package, announced 25 November 2004, are firmly based on the views gathered during this process.
Consistent with the findings of the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (in their 'Waste Not, Want Not' report, published in November 2002), the main objectives of the support programme are to encourage close and co-operative working within the sector and with local authorities and businesses.
The programme is also intended to support and grow the kinds of innovative approaches to service delivery that the sector has demonstrated in the past.
The combination of all three elements of the support package are aimed at addressing the sector's short-term funding requirements, and to provide a platform for considering longer-term and more sustainable development of community waste groups.
Ministers are clear that the funding is a vital part of the package, not least because the community waste sector has been a "major player" in the municipal waste scene.
Grant fund for 2005-2006
All deadlines for submitting applications for the £3 million Waste Partnership Fund have closed.
Successful applicants to the grant fund have been notified - see full details and this news release of 1 April 2005.
The fund has 3 core objectives:
- Support good quality new partnerships and measurably strengthen good quality existing partnerships between community waste groups and other sector bodies.
- Increase recognition of community waste groups' work in the waste sector by funding exemplary projects.
- Positively impact on landfill diversion targets.
It was designed to be widely accessible to support a range of community sector projects, with no maximum bid size, a £5000 minimum bid size and no match funding obligation. The guidance notes contained additional information regarding eligibility.
Successful bids met these objectives by working with municipal waste in a number of different ways. Composting, recycling, furniture reuse, nappy and awareness raising projects have all been successful, and have all, importantly, been able to demonstrate a strong element of partnership working.
Sector review
A review of the voluntary and community waste sector in England has been commissioned by Defra and will report its findings in Autumn 2005.
The review will take place in two stages. First of all it will look at the current scope and impact of community groups in the waste sector. Building on this information, the second stage of the review will look to the future, at the potential opportunities for the sector in terms of operations, finances and infrastructure and will consider the means of addressing barriers to the sector fulfilling its potential.
(24 KB)Regional development
The Review's analysis of infrastructure models will be informed by the results of the third part of the package, which consists of a pilot scheme to fund regional co-ordinators in four regions (Yorkshire and Humberside, the South West, the North West and Eastern England).
Each co-ordinator, is responsible for providing additional support for community waste groups within their region, acting as a central conduit for local authorities and groups, providing tailored business support and encouraging joint working, and sourcing additional investment into the community waste sector in those regions.
Specific regional needs are being addressed via consultation at the local level and the delivery process will be managed and co-ordinated by the main community waste sector umbrella groups, the Community Composting Network (CCN), the Community Recycling Network (CRN), and the Furniture Reuse Network (FRN).
Page last modified:
12 August 2005
Page published: 5 February 2003