Combat Poverty seeks national waste-charge waiver system

The Combat Poverty Agency has called for a nationwide system of waste-charge waivers for low-income families.

The agency said there was currently no obligation on local authorities to implement a waiver scheme and those that did exist were being applied with little consistency.

In a report published today, Combat Poverty said there were many ways to provide these waivers, including through tax credits or via the social welfare system.

However, it said it believed the best option was a locally operated scheme, with grants given to local authorities to help meet the costs of the operation.

The agency is also calling for further changes that would allow households to make phased payments and that would take income and household size into account when deciding the amount of the charge.