Norfolk asks government for assistance after incinerator debacle

The Leader of Norfolk County Council, George Nobbs, has written to Prime Minister David Cameron asking for financial assistance, after the ‘inaction’ of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles, led the council to cancel its incinerator contract with Cory Wheelabrator.

Incinerator contract details

On 7 April, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet unanimously voted to abandon its King’s Lynn incinerator contract with Cory Wheelabrator, after it was found that for every day the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles, delayed making a decision on the plant’s planning permission, it cost the council £140,000.

Despite previously stating that a decision would be made by 14 January 2014, by early April a decision had still not been made, and, as no indication had been made as to when one could be expected, the council decided to break its contract immediately to protect it from future costs.

Norfolk County Council will now need to pay £20.3 million of capped compensation to Cory Wheelabrator, as well as public inquiry costs of £1.6 million, and exchange rate and interest rate related costs of £8.36 million, bringing the total to around £30 million.

These costs will reportedly be met through a £19-million contingency reserve built up for the purpose, £3 million left over from the council's 2013/14 budget, and £8 million from general reserves, on the basis that the council 'takes immediate steps to replenish those reserves'.

Calls for financial assistance and reduced landfill charges

However, on Wednesday, 30 April, Nobbs wrote to the Prime Minister asking for ‘help with a serious financial problem that [the] council has had to deal with as a result of the actions of a previous council administration… and the inaction of [the] Secretary of State for Communities’.

The letter reads: ‘The consequence is that the council is having to pay just over £30m for the failure to proceed, and will now have to embark on a third scheme, with further costs to be met…

‘The nine Norfolk MPs, all supporters of your government, have spoken warmly of a partnership approach between the council and government, and sharing these abortive costs… I would welcome an offer of assistance from the government, for the immediate £30m abortive costs, and a conversation on help for the forthcoming costs of a difficult… new scheme. I would also appreciate a reduction in the charge for the continued use of landfill as a consequence of events beyond the council’s control.’

Norfolk County Council will be meeting with Suffolk County Council next week to discuss potentially sending up to 50,000 tonnes of its waste to SITA UK’s Great Blakenham incinerator, which is set to open this summer.

Investigation into contract decision-making

Nobbs has already called for an investigationinto the ‘political decision-making’ surrounding its abandoned incinerator contract, as he said he believed the people of Norfolk were “entitled to an inquiry into an issue which was set to cost the authority in the region of £30 million”.

However, as a full public inquiry is not in his power, he requested that former councillor Stephen Revell, an Independent Person to the Authority’s Standards Committee (who reportedly has experience in ‘scrutinising public bodies’), look at three ‘areas of concern’:

• How and why did the authority get itself into this situation in the first place?
• How and why was the decision to terminate reached?
• What was the effect of outside political involvement in helping or hindering the fulfilment of the contract?

Revell has now accepted the request, and is expected to start work on the investigation ‘shortly’. The council has said that it intends to publish his findings ‘in full’, once his report has been submitted to the authority.

Read more about Norfolk County Council’s decision to abandon its incineration contract with Cory Wheelabrator.