LAWR

re-use Promoting waste prevention to help tackle poverty Sensible resource recovery, re-use and repair aren't just about the environment; waste is a poverty and economic issue, argues Furniture Re-use Network's (FRN) Helen Middleton. Liz Gyekye catches up with Middleton to find out more. Why do you think there is a direct link between current waste management approaches in the handling of unwanted household goods, such as furniture, and poverty levels in the UK? Our members are dealing with disadvantaged, in-crisis families on a daily basis. From a recent survey, more than 65% of them are simply overwhelmed by the sheer scale of demand for essential items such as beds, bedding and increasingly, food and debt advice. They are struggling to cope; some FRN members have experienced 100% increase in demand for support since April 2013 and many from working households. A lot of re-usable waste is still going to landfill. Our sector is forced to purchase new items because it cannot access the re-usable waste from local authority sources. What are the main challenges you face at the FRN? The Government's plans to end £174m-worth of funding for local welfare assistance (LWA) schemes aimed at providing help for the most vulnerable will make life difficult for those in need. How does the local welfare assistance fund work? Local authorities currently use the LWA fund to give emergency help to people facing crisis situations, including families under the threat of homelessness or domestic abuse. It has also paid for vouchers for people struggling to afford food and basic household essentials. It was introduced in 2013 to replace Government-provided crisis loans, with each local authority area allocated money from the £347m total. However, last year the local Government finance settlement revealed that the funding would not be renewed this year. What is the FRN doing to tackle this challenge? At the moment we are campaigning to save the LWA fund. We have linked up with a number of campaigning charities, including Crisis, Shelter and a number of local authorities to persuade Government to reinstate the fund. More than 20-plus charities are involved in the campaign. More than 30% of our members are working with their local authorities in the delivery of excellent schemes helping people in crisis. By supplying pre-used, therefore lower costs goods, the FRN sector is saving these authorities considerable sums of money and ensuring their limited budgets stretch further to help more families in crisis. On a practical level, FRN is sharing best practice with local authorities who recognise that support must be given to people in crisis in their communities even with a disappearing pot of money; providing advice; and brokering partnerships between them and our members. What can councils do to help? FRN's chief concern is that low-income households will turn to pay-day lenders and loan sharks, thereby creating a greater spiral of debt. We are urging local authorities to work with our members. In 2011 the Department of Work and Pensions unveiled a document entitled `Government Response to the Call for Evidence – Local Support to Replace Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans for Living Expenses in England'. The report made a recommendation for local authorities to work with FRN members in order to reduce budget costs on the supply of low-cost furniture and electrical appliances (specifically citing FRN's Approved Re-use Centres which are subjected to a quality management audit and certification process). What else can local authorities do to help those in need? It is a bit of a pipe dream but we would like the waste departments in the 24 Local Authority Waste & Recycling March 2015 Helen Middleton

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