FOI request (FOI206064)

Charity Shops

Requested Wed 01 February 2017
Responded  Wed 01 February 2017

1. The Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 advise that waste produced by a charity shop selling donated goods which have originated from domestic property (e.g. from private donors) should be counted as household waste, not commercial.  With this in mind

a. do you accept this kind of waste in the event that a local charity shop were to bring it to one of your council's sites?

b. do you levy a charge to dispose of such items of domestic waste in the event that a local charity shop were to bring them to one of your civic amenities sites?

2. If your answer to (1 b) is yes, please provide details of your charging scheme, including any different rates of charges for different categories of waste (for example WEEE items) and any plans to change your charging policies in the future.

3. Do you host any charity shops at your civic amenities sites, and if so how many?

4. How many charity shops are you aware of operating within your local authority area?

5. Under the system of business rates relief in England and Wales, local authorities have discretionary powers to grant additional rate relief of up to 20 per cent to charity shops within their area.  To how many of the above charity shops do you:

a. grant the full 20 per cent rate relief discount,

b. grant some discretionary rate relief to, but not the full 20 per cent,

c. not grant any additional discretionary rate relief?

6. Under what criteria would you grant additional discretionary rate relief to charity shops in your area, and do you have any plans to reform these policies in the future?

7. How many textile recycling banks does you directly manage within your local authority area and what is the average annual income generated by these banks?

8. How much would your local authority charge a charity for a licence to operate a textile recycling bank in your area?

Response