§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money deriving from the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme has been spent on promoting environmental education in schools in each of the last three years; and what assessment he has made of the impact of changes to the scheme on the funding of environmental education from this source. [151431]
§ Mr. MorleyI have been asked to reply.
The amount of Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS) funds spent on environmental education within schools under categories c and cc can be summarised as follows.
894W
Calendar year Expenditure (£) 2001 725,780 2002 234,700 2003 71,300 Note:
The figure for 2003 is as reported to date and may increase given that Environmental Bodies may report on expenditure for this specific year until April 2004.
The reform of the LTCS was announced in the pre-Budget report in 2002. As a result, waste projects, previously funded under categories c and cc, are no longer eligible for funding. However, certain types of environmental educational projects are eligible for funding under the current scheme, for example in the biodiversity category.
A sustainable waste management delivery public spending programme, administered by Defra, has been established following the reform of the LTCS, to ensure that sustainable alternatives to landfill disposal are widely available. Under the public expenditure programme the Waste and Resources Action Programme are responsible for taking forward work on waste awareness.