Baroness Young of Old Scone – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Young of Old Scone on 2016-01-18.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether an environmental assessment has been made of the impact of the likely withdrawal of the landfill operators from the Landfill Communities Fund scheme as a result of the proposed removal of the provision for contributing third parties on the environment and projects funded through that scheme, and if so, what environmental impact has been assessed; and what measures the Government are planning to put in place to counteract that impact.
Lord O’Neill of Gatley
Since its introduction in 1996, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) has contributed over £1.4 billion to community projects in areas near a local landfill site or other qualifying site and the Government acknowledges the positive impact of this funding for communities. However, as the LCF is a tax credit scheme, it reduces the Government’s tax revenues and we therefore have a responsibility to seek value for money for the taxpayer. This is a particular concern given the need to reduce the deficit and return the public finances to a sustainable path.
Despite difficult decisions on spending, the Government has decided to retain and reform the LCF. The aim of these reforms is to encourage money to get to communities more quickly. The LCF will provide £39.3 million of additional funding in 2016-17 alone. We also hope more unspent funds, which this year totalled £118 million, will reach projects as soon as possible.
The Government is committed to providing the best value for communities, and over the next five years £20 million of the additional Landfill Tax revenues will be used by the Environment Agency to address waste crime, which can be a danger to both human health and the environment.
The government has received representations on the LCF reforms. We are taking views into consideration and our priority is to ensure that the LCF operates effectively and encourages money to be spent in the communities that need it.
