Defra's annual report released earlier this year said that “the target of 25% for 2005-06 remains challenging.” But reassured the “recent trajectories modelling the impact of measures put in place to drive up local authority performance, partly in response to the Strategy Unit report, suggest that it is achievable.”
But the Committee expressed surprise that Defra described itself as “on course” to achieve its goal and said that “In relation to waste reduction, the Committee is extremely doubtful that Defra will meet the target of recycling or composting 25% of waste by 2005/06.”
The most recent municipal waste survey released last month by Defra showed that the UK has and average rate of just over 14%. The environment minister Elliot Morley said he believed there was a strong possibility that the country would meet the target of 17% for 2004/05.
And in the annual report Defra claimed that the Waste Implementation Programme, statutory targets for local authorities, increases in the Landfill Tax, the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme and the new local authority Performance Reward Grant would all help to meet targets.
Defra is now required to respond to Efracom's report within the next two months, said a spokeswoman for the Committee. At the time of speaking to letsrecycle.com Defra had not yet read the report but said “We look forward to reading the report with interest and will respond in detail later in December.”
Overall, the report by by the House of Commons committee said that the department did not yet have sufficient 'c;lout' to be taken seriously by other government departments in framing their key policy decisions.
The Committee report also examined Defra's performance against its public service agreement targets. In a number of cases performance has slipped, it said, or seems likely to slip in the future. For example, in relation to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, Defra is not on course to achieve a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 20% by 2010, argued the report.
The report also claimed that although other government departments “pay lip service” to the priorities of sustainable development, in the big decisions over fuel duties and aviation policy, “Defra is not able to hold sway”.
On a positive note, the committee did conclude that there was no longer an “air of crisis” about the department and that, overall, it has made progress in the last year.
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