Kent councils shift focus from waste to resource

The change was revealed at the Partnerships annual conference at Canterbury Cathedral today (June 21). The partnership is made up of the 12 district and borough councils that collect waste in Kent, and Kent county council, the waste disposal authority. It was formally known as the Kent Waste Forum.

According to the group, the name change is part of a strategic rethink for the organisation across the board, which symbolises its intent to focus on making the most of the valuable resources available to each of its members. The Partnership added that the new direction will influence negotiation on contracts with the private sector and relationships with other sector partners.

In a joint statement, councillor Paul Barrington-King, KRP chairman and the portfolio holders from all 13 Kent councils, said: The change of name to the Kent Resource Partnership symbolises our intent to focus on making the most of the valuable resources the 13 Kent councils receive from our residents.

More than that, however, it is a statement of our belief the KRP can work with others in the public and private sectors who are like-minded about the need to drive the resource agenda forward. Not everyone may be with us in mind or action, but those who are will see a Kent Resource Partnership that looks forward, walks forward, and progresses to better results together than we could achieve on our own.

Partnership

Speaking at the conference this afternoon was Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), who commented that council partnerships were helping to save money for local authorities, and said the model could be adopted more widely across the country

She said: Given the current challenging economic climate where pressures on resources are even more acute, finding ways of working together and pooling resources makes sound sense as you have no doubt found.

There are also some good examples of other cross-council partnerships such as the East and Mid Kent Projects. It would be good to see this kind of collaborative approach used more widely in other parts of the UK.

I also believe that the Kent Resource Partnerships work on public consultations – such as the Defra MRF Code of Practice and, dare I say it, the Defra review of WRAP funding , and how it co-ordinates responses to these on behalf of all 13 councils, is further demonstration of the benefits of collaboration.

These examples all serve to demonstrate what can be achieved where theres a collective willingness to share and work together not just in the short term, but in the longer term, too.