Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data he holds on the names and number of local authorities in England who have their main waste and recycling collection services provided (a) in-house and (b) via private contracts; and if he will make a statement.

In 2019 Local Partnerships, who work with Defra to support local authorities, conducted an assessment of waste collection contracts in England. This indicated that 57% of recycling collection contracts, covering roughly 11.7 million of the 19.9 million households in England, are delivered either in-house or through an in-house company. The remaining 43% of local authority recycling collection contracts in England, covering 8.2 million households, are delivered by private sector providers. 82% of these contracts are held with six companies, covering 6.7 million households.