Speaking at an Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group meeting in London, Cllr Ken Manton, chair of the LGA's waste committee and leader of Durham County council, warned that local authorities were “alarmed at the prospects of fines for not meeting targets”.
Cllr Manton said: “Many of our authorities are concerned that in the future they will face fines and there are many local authorities who have a long way to go.”
Questioning the fundamental basis of the scheme and the calculations involved, he predicted that many authorities would run into difficulties.
He gave detailed examples of the problems councils will face as they grapple with the idea of buying and selling allocations. In particular, Cllr Manton pointed to one large authority which had gone down the PFI (private finance initiative) route in line with advice from the government's advisors, the 4ps. It now seemed that the authority would be hit by penalites under LATS and he expressed considerable surprise over this. “It is of concern that even this authority will incur penalties under LATS. Even though the project is funded by PFI – did the PFI team and the 4ps know about this?”
Cautious
Cllr Manton predicted that spare certificates may not even be sold. “We must bear in mind that many local authorities who have spare certificates might want to keep them, for example, in case of a plant breakdown. I suspect many of them will be ultra cautious – local authorities are very cautious – they are not speculators.”
And, he added that he believed the pressures of meeting higher landfill costs with increased Landfill Tax were strong enough in themselves.
Defending the principles of LATS, Ray Alderton, head of landfill policy at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said that it was considered that “a trading scheme will mean money is spent where it is best used.” He pointed out that government economists saw it as an efficient approach and that “that there is a large body out there which supports the scheme. There was a 70% response opting for a trading scheme.”
Not compulsory
Mr Alderton also emphasised that LATS is not a compulsory trading scheme. “It is for councils to make use of the tools available to them – it is not a stick. It is a beneficial tool but not a stick to beat them with.”
And, he reminded the audience that council's “don't have to trade” and that DEFRA did have the power to waive fines if local authorities had made efforts to divert material but there had been difficulties.
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