LANDFILL SITES (Hansard, 28 March 1996)

§ Madam Speaker
With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 15 to 18.

§ Ms Dawn Primarolo (Bristol, South)
In their amendments, the Government have made minor changes to the definition of, first, landfill sites and, secondly, the landfill site operator. That was not raised in Committee, so I would be grateful if the Paymaster General will explain why it was necessary to change the definitions, and what the substantive difference is.

§ The Paymaster General (Mr. David Heathcoat-Amory)
The group of amendments is designed to ensure that there is no room for doubt as to what is and what is not a site for the purpose of the tax. They were tabled following further legal advice on the provision in the Bill as published.
Amendment No. 14 relates to licences issued for sites in Great Britain before the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was enacted. We wish to bring in all licensed sites; hence the amendment. That is clearly in line with the purpose of the Bill, and I venture to say that it is therefore uncontroversial.
Amendment No. 15 is designed to deal with a similar problem relating to Scottish local authority sites that operate under a resolution passed before the Environmental Protection Act was enacted. Although all Scottish local authority sites will shortly be licensed, we do not wish to create a loophole and resulting distortion for such a key area of the landfill tax provision. Our purpose in the amendment was to put that beyond doubt.