A Cumbrian council leader has defended the way a waste recycling contract was awarded – and has asked for the matter to be scrutinised by an authority watchdog.
Mark Fryer, who leads Cumberland Council, is also involved with Cumbria Recycling Limited.
The firm, based at Lillyhall, near Workington, is involved with the authority’s new doorstep recycling initiative.
Magazine Private Eye highlighted the link in its most recent edition and claimed that it was told there was no official response from the council and it should submit a Freedom of Information request.
But Mr Fryer, speaking exclusively to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said he was initially approached by the then Cumbria County Council when he was not a councillor.
The project received £62,744 from Material Focus, a not-for-profit body that funds and encourages electrical recycling. Mr Fryer said: “Yes, it is not council money.”
He said they had followed the correct procedure and he had stepped back from any dealing with the council.
He added: “For me, as the council leader, absolutely, I have played no part. I have had no discussions with anybody.
“It has been dealt with by members of the management team at CRL. When I was elected [onto Cumberland Council] I wrote them a letter to say that I would not be involved in the day-to-day running of the company with either Cumbria Waste Management, which was at the time owned by the council, and the council themselves because that would be inappropriate.”
He said he had also referred the matter so it can be properly investigated.
“I think it’s appropriate because I think it’s important that it’s out in the open,” he said. “I have asked that it be referred to a scrutiny committee. They have got nothing to hide.”
The council announced that from February 5, the mobile Recycling Rambler van will visit communities in West Cumbria to collect small electrical items – anything with a plug, cable or batteries. They will then be sorted, reused or recycled. The scheme is being run as a six-month trial in the area formerly covered by Copeland Borough Council.
