Stakeholder responses to a consultation from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on repealing construction Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) regulations in England have led the government to announce it will be implementing the repeal from 1 October.

Initiated by Defra to ‘ensure it fully understood the implications’ of repealing the law, the ‘Consultation on Proposed repeal of construction Site Waste Management Plans Regulations (2008)’ – launched in June – sought views from local authorities, construction and environmental sector trade bodies on whether the regulations ought to be repealed, the impacts of doing so and the potential for continued use of SWMPs in some form following the repeal.

In the summary of responses and government response document, released last week (30 August), Defra said it decided to repeal the legal requirement for construction sites to have SWMPs as part of the Environmental Theme of the Red Tape Challenge to ‘remove regulations which are either ineffective or hold back growth’ and ‘free-up business’.

According to Defra, the decision came following an impact assessment that showed ‘repealing the regulations should provide a reduction in the regulatory burden to businesses without any significant environment impact’. Defra added that ‘the purpose of deregulation is not to outlaw SWMPs or to discourage their use; it is merely to allow businesses to balance the costs and benefits of using a SWMP’.

Industry responses

Overall, there were 169 responses to the consultation: 72 contractors, 38 private businesses, 19 Health and Safety Officers, nine local authorities and six clients. The remainder of responses came from ‘groups such as universities, government, and members of the public’.

The consultation received a mixed response from industry with ‘an even split between those in favour and those against’. However, ‘a slight majority [53 per cent] indicated that they were in agreement with the impacts identified in the impact assessment produced’.

A key finding of the consultation was that the majority of respondents (73 per cent) indicated that ‘they would continue to use SWMPs or a similar process if the regulations were repealed’. Defra said this confirms that ‘SWMP processes are now quite embedded in the construction industry’, and thus ‘could still be used as a tool even without the regulations in place’.

It is hoped that the deregulation of a process described by government as ‘unwieldy’ and ‘inflexible’ could bring about an estimated financial annual benefit of £3.9 million, due to the administrative saving of not completing a SWMP.

Benefits of SWMPS are ‘confused’

The repeal of SWMP regulation comes in diametric opposition to Wales’ stance on the matter, as the Welsh Government’s Construction and Demolition sector plan, launched in November, suggested introducing mandatory SWMPs to help those involved in the industry – including builders, trades people and suppliers –to improve waste management practices and gain more environmentally friendly and affordable results.

Indeed, five respondents to the English consultation commented on the fact that the Welsh Government has just consulted on introducing SWMP regulations for Wales, which could ‘lead to confusion’, and should encourage the alignment of ‘thinking… across borders’.

One respondent commented: ‘We find it odd that England wants to repeal the SWMP regulations and Wales wants to introduce SWMP regulations; this suggests that thinking about the benefits of SWMPs is confused’.

'Loss of a useful tool'

Commenting on the enforcement of the repeal, Director of Policy at Environmental Services Association, Matthew Farrow said: "In our view the loss of a useful tool that helps move construction and demolition waste up the hierarchy outweighs the small regulatory burden that has been removed. Its disappointing that the government took the reverse view."

The repeal of these regulations, along with other Red Tape Challenge measures, will officially commence on 1 October.

Read the SWMP consultation responses document.