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Under the previous system, local authorities were encouraged to bid for a pot of cash throughout the year but once the money was gone, it was gone.
This meant that those proposals which were received early in the year stood a much better chance of getting credits, as it was essentially a first-come, first-served system.
Now the department plans to create clearly defined windows – Awards Rounds – when bids can be made to encourage well-thought out, quality applications rather than the hastily put together variety.
Applications will be judged on criteria including value for money, scale, deliverability, readiness and environmental objectives.
According to Defra the key changes to the system are:
An estimated £11 billion of infrastructure will be needed if the UK is to meet is landfill diversion targets and public-private partnerships are part of the Government’s strategy to secure this level of investment.
Director of Defra’s Waste Implementation Programme John Burns has written to all local authority chief executives to explain how the system will operate.
“This change of approach is one of a number of steps which Defra is taking to ensure that England will meet its EU Landfill Diversion targets on a timely and cost-effective basis,” he said.
Sam Bond
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