Hillingdon Spend Story

1. What is the headline for your story? (Max 15 words)

The headline of my story is:

“HOW PRIVATE CONTRACTORS ARE CASHING IN ON YOUR WASTE”

2. Summarise the main point of your story in an introduction. (Max 30 words)

Private contractors received £129 million of the £133 million spent by the council on waste management in one financial year with the West London Waste Authority getting the lion’s share.

3. Explain how you would develop your story – who you would interview, what other facts/quotes you need to complete a story for publication. Max 250 words

A breakdown of payments made to the West London Waste Authority in the last 2 years

Because most of the funds paid through the council were termed as “other levies” without any clear recipient indicated, I would speak to a member of the council (preferably the Chief Finance Officer) to try and elaborate more on how each spending was done. I would probably ask them what “other levies” means and who are the companies or people who received the funds under that ambiguous entry to the excel sheet.

More than half of the total spending by the council went to private contractors, I would also try and speak to the private contractor who received the most amount of cash (in this case, the West London Waste Authority) and probe what services they offered to the council to warrant such a hefty payment. I would probe whether this was a competitive tendering process to get the award or if it was a direct procurement e.g via a public private partnership with the council.

I would seek opinion from financial analysts within Hillingdon to explain the economic viability of such huge funding to a single company. I’d also speak to environmentalists within the borough to find out whether they feel if enough is being done about the cleanliness and wellbeing of the general environment in spite of the council’s huge spending on waste management in the borough.

I would also speak to the residents of the area because ultimately the story is about them and how the council is spending their money (through taxes).