As an Environmental Body (EB) enrolled with us it is a statutory requirement that you submit a Statutory Annual Return (Form 4) by 28 April 2017. The Form 4 covers the period of 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017. Whilst 28 April 2017 is the deadline, you do not need to wait until then to complete your Form 4 if your Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) activity for the year 2016/2017 has been completed.
To complete your Form 4, or to help you prepare for completing it, here is an overview of the information you will need to correctly complete the Form 4.
In the first instance you will need to review each of your approved projects, looking at the project start and end dates, and ensure that any project expenditure falls between those dates. If it does not, you will need to contact the Registrations Team to arrange an extension to your project end date. If you fail to apply for an extension, then any project expenditure outside of the start and end date will be a breach and that expenditure will be non-compliant. You can read more information on our project registration page.
Once you have reviewed your projects and been granted any necessary extension requests, you will need the following information to complete your Form 4:
- Any changes to your EB's Directors during the period;
- Any changes to your governing documents for the period;
- The value of LCF monies held and received during the period; and
- The value and details of LCF expenditure during the period, including a cost breakdown for each project.
Please note that all enrolled EBs are required to complete a Form 4 even if they have not received or spent any LCF money during the reporting period or if the EB plans to revoke from the LCF.
EBs based in Scotland
Whilst the Form 4 deadline is 28 April 2017, it should be noted that the transitional phase for the closure of the LCF in Scotland ends on 31 March 2017. EBs in Scotland are therefore advised to complete their Form 4 by this date and to voluntarily revoke from the scheme.
Completing your Form 4
The form can quickly and easily be completed and submitted through ENTRUST online (EOL), our online database which will pre-populate many of the fields for you, with the information we already hold.
We have recently updated EOL to make it clearer when your Form 4 has been submitted. Whilst you are working on the Form 4 the status will be shown as 'Draft'. Once you submit the Form 4 the status will either show as 'Reconciled' or 'Unreconciled'. If your Form 4 status is listed as unreconciled you will need to identify the issue and resubmit the Form 4 or alternatively contact ENTRUST for advice. Once your Form 4 status is listed as reconciled you will no longer receive email reminders from us.
If you have already registered for EOL and have forgotten your password please go to EOL, enter your email address and click on the forgotten password link. A reminder of your password will then be sent to you by email. If you would like to register to access EOL please call us on 01926 488 300 or email helpline@entrust.org.uk
If you would like any further information on completing your Form 4 you can read our updated Guides to completing the Form 4. We have a Quick Guide to start you off, and more detailed Guides for submitting an Annual Return or submitting Nil Return. The guides are available in the Need Help section of our website or as related documents on the right hand side of this article.