Defra funding for WRAP is to reduce to 60% of its current level of £25.7m over the next 18 months – taking it to £15.5m for 2015 – 16. WRAP expects its 2014 – 15 budget from Defra to be around £18m.

This will be seen as a further blow to the waste and resource management sector, in which WRAP plays a central role.

WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin admitted that the cuts would result in more streamlining for the organisation.

“Less money means rightly that we will need to focus on fewer priorities and stop doing some lower impact work,” she said.

While she confirmed that food waste will remain a priority work stream, Goodwin said that the finer detail of WRAP’s future focus would be fleshed out with Defra officials over the next few weeks.

She added that WRAP would continue to try and secure alternative sources of income in order to diversify its funding base.

“We are pursuing a number of opportunities … it is important to remember that Defra is only one of WRAP’s funders, currently providing less than half our income.”

The organisation has seen its budget squeezed significantly over the past few years and has had to reduce its overheads accordingly. It recently was subject to a government review to ensure its work was delivering value for money.

Read Liz Goodwin’s own account of the Spending Review cuts here

Maxine Perella

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