Memorandum submitted by Paul Whittlesea
(Waste 04)
I have a short contribution to the debate. I
am a policy officer in the Department for Communities & Local
Government, but I'm on paternity leave, so writing in a personal
capacity but with some knowledge of local government policy developments.
I have recently become a father again and having
attended a refresher birthing course at St Thomas's hospital I
was struck that while the information table in the room and leaflet
carousel had a variety of leaflets from Lambeth, Southwark and
Lewisham councils on things like breastfeeding and domestic violence
it had nothing to highlight alternatives to disposable nappies.
This is a case of councils definitely missing a trick.
I am aware of the rather unhelpful report from
the Environment Agency a couple of years ago which indicated that
they may not be as environmentally friendly as disposable nappies,
but that was presuming that people would wash them at 95 degrees—totally
unnecessary in our experience—60 degrees is fine for the
"Fuzzibunz" nappies we used.
It would be good to think that councils and
PCTs & NHS trusts will start to think a bit more creatively
on reducing things like nappy waste—perhaps under the duty
to agree targets in Local Area Agreements being set in statute
in the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill.
If tomorrow's Spending Review retains "reward grant"
for exceeding targets in LAAs, it may be worth highlighting in
your report that different local players could think more creatively
in sharing targets on reducing (nappy) waste and benefit financially
as a result.
Paul Whittlesea
October 2007
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