b'accommodation as Commercial waste which can be accordingly charged for under the powers in section 45(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This would allow councils to charge landlords for these services who do not currently pay either business rates or council tax. Understandably, the proposal has been controversial with many people complaining of backdoor bin charging for students.So much so, in fact, that in a joint letter to all local authorities in July 2013, Ministers from the DCLG and Local Government and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) made clear their strong opposition to such practices. The letter highlighted how forcing the cost of waste collection onto landlords, and subsequently onto students, to try and raise incomes, could, in the joint opinion of the Ministers concerned, lead to a rise in fly-tipping and illegal dumping of waste. This, the letter warned, could leave the councils financially worse off in the long run due to clean-up costs. The letter advised local authorities not charge landlords who provide student accommodation for arranging waste collections from these properties. Government guidance has been sent to local authorities making clear, if charges relating to such student accommodation continue to be made, legislation will be amended to ensure the practice is stopped. Local authorities who charge may also be liable to legal challenge, investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman, and a formal complaint may be made to the local auditor alleging ultra vires charging. Local authorities were told by the departments that this style of charging goes against the intentions of the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, which allow for local authorities to charge for the collection and disposal of waste from a wider range of non-domestic properties than before. Whilst local authority legal departments may take a different view of the law to that set out by the letter, it would take a brave or foolish authority to disregard such a strongly worded steer as to statutory intention from two of the most closely involved government departments responsible for local government (DCLG) and the waste sector (DEFRA) respectively and could expect no help from this quarter on legal challenge by disgruntled students or their representatives. 165'