In today’s Autumn Statement the government published their response to the consultation 'Reform of the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF)'.
The full published report is available here. This contains a package of reform measures supported by consultation respondents and designed to simplify the scheme. They will reduce admin burdens on EBs and speed the flow of money to communities. These include:
- Removal of the requirement for a contributing third party
- Limiting record retention to six years
- Limiting the requirement to monitor assets, and
- Removing the investment and administrative services objects.
The Government has also announced that the size of the fund for 2016/17 will be £39.3m, a diversion rate of 4.2%. An additional £20m is being allocated to the Environment Agency to tackle waste crime over the course of this Parliament.
We note the Government’s proposals for the reform of the LCF and we will work closely with the Sector to ensure the reforms are effectively implemented. Over the forthcoming months we will update our advice, guidance and EB training to ensure that all EBs are fully supported and aware of their obligations under the reform announcements.
You can also read the attached Question and Answer document which is available here and as an attachment on the right hand side of this page.
This announcement relates to the Landfill Communities Fund in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The LCF closed in Scotland on 31 March 2015, with a two year transitional period ending 31 March 2017. You can read more details about the closure of the LCF in Scotland and guidance regarding the transitional period here.