HL Deb 03 March 2005 vol 670 c46WA
Baroness Howe of Idlicote

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Of the £84 million allocated to the Waste Implementation Programme for England and Wales, what is the breakdown of spending; whether there has been a shortfall; and, if so, whether any such shortfall can be allocated to school-based waste-education work. [HL1416]

Lord Whitty

Reform of the landfill tax credit scheme allocated approximately £84 million, £92 million and £92 million to sustainable waste management in England between 2003–4 and 2005–6. These funds are administered through Defra's Waste Implementation Programme, which aims to ensure that legally binding targets to reduce significantly the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill are met.

There are no expected shortfalls in the budget for the rest of the 2004–05 financial year, which ends on 31 March. Planned levels of expenditure for 2005–06 mean that no significant shortfall is likely to be available to support major new programmes of work.

Major areas of funding include: £40 million to take forward a programme of four waste reduction measures; £25 million for programmes designed to help local authorities increase access to doorstep collection of materials for recycling; £22 million for two programmes to improve the quality and availability of data and research; £37 million for a programme of development of new technologies, including pilots; and £4 million for a programme to support voluntary and community waste group initiatives which include delivery of waste education work.

Other waste implementation programmes contribute to informal methods of environmental education and awareness raising. For example, £30 million over three years has been allocated to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) for national and local waste awareness campaigns.

The Waste Implementation Programme contributed £29 million in 2003–04 and 2004–05 to boost Defra's Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund, which provides project-based funding to local authorities to enable them to roll out high-quality recycling schemes in their areas. The programme also provided £20 million in targeted grants to local authorities in 2004–05 to reduce pressure faced by councils to fund services such as waste management through increases in council tax.