A committee of MPs is to probe the potential impact of the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy on local authority finances.  The inquiry by the Commons’ Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, announced on Friday (22 March), will examine how the strategy could impact on council services and costs.

Defra’s long-anticipated Resources and Waste Strategy was launched in December, setting out a series of policies aimed at improving resource management in the UK.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said that its inquiry will consider how appropriate a standardised approach to waste services will be, or if there are benefits “for allowing a degree of local flexibility”.

The Committee will also investigate how joint-working between layers of local government with responsibility for waste can be improved.

Launching the inquiry, Committee chair and Sheffield MP Clive Betts, said: “It is important that there is a comprehensive strategy to increase the levels of recycling. But ahead of placing greater responsibilities on local authorities we must first look at their ability to meet them. With budgets shrinking, and acute challenges elsewhere, is there capacity to tackle increased demands on waste services?”