Just two years after it was established East Midlands Property Alliance (empa) has already built itself a solid reputation for delivering results. Formed by local authorities in the East Midlands, empa's role is to improve the delivery of property services;providing guidance on best practice and efficiency savings.

Corby Borough Council, and partners, have been awarded a Green Flag by the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) for recovery and rejuvenation in the town following One Corby approach to regeneration and service delivery adopted in 2004.

The economic downturn is impacting employment, communities and businesses up and down the country. Local authorities are addressing their responsibility to respond to the challenges the recession brings in different ways.

Erewash Borough Council's waste collection service provides good value for money. The service performs well; recycling rates are above average compared to other authorities nationally and the amount of waste sent to landfill is lower than average, yet the cost of the service per household is low. This case study explores what drives this value for money position, with a focus on particular initiatives or ways of working that have enabled the service to maintain its good performance and low costs.

Erewash’s spend on waste collection per household is one of the lowest in the East Midlands and their performance (in terms of recycling a large proportion of their waste and minimising overall levels of waste produced by households) is above average compared to other councils nationally. The authority has worked on improving their recycling performance in recent years, whilst also ensuring that the service is as efficient as possible.

The council manages to achieve above average performance ratings at a low cost per household by:

• Developing a culture of continuous improvement, for example conducting a route optimisation review, working to expand the range of recyclable materials collected and adapting operations to match demand.

• Driving out costs, for example by maximising staff productivity, moving customer contact into the customer services function, refurbishing vehicles to extend their useful life and reducing agency spend during off-peak periods.

• Maximising income from recycling credits and operating a profitable trade waste service.