Announcing the award of the monies, which are for the current financial year, Environment Minister Michael Meacher said that the fund was a major component of the government's waste strategy.
From over 190 applications to the fund for 2002/03, 112 schemes were
approved by DEFRA with the help of an Expert Panel. The Government is
now inviting applications for grants for 2003/04. Next year, 76.3m
will be available from the fund; almost double that for 2002/03. For a list of the successful schemes so far click here.
The National Fund prioritises five key areas:
- improving partnership initiatives between authorities;
- contributing to high performance, innovation and best practice;
- establishing a challenge fund for general projects;
- developing community initiatives;
- turning around low recycling performance
Neighbourhood Renewal
DEFRA explained that the assistance given by the Fund will aid some of the least successful recycling authorities in their efforts to reach a minimum
rate of 10% next year. “Neighbourhood Renewal is also a key area of
Government policy and over half of the 88 NRU local authorities in
England are low recycling performers.” 21 NRU councils were approved for
direct grant, amounting to a total of around 14m.
Announcing today's grants, Environment Minister, Michael Meacher
said:
“Overall, England recycled just 10 % of its household rubbish in
1999/00 – one of the lowest rates in Europe. That is just not good
enough, and it is why the Government set a target of 25% recycling by
2005/06 and allocated 19.9m of the Fund for helping turn around low
performance and 12.5m for partnership working
“This Fund is a major component of the Government's Waste Strategy
and should help these local authorities to make vital improvements in
their recycling performance. We received a wide variety of bids and I
am particularly happy that we have been able to approve projects
which engage the community and encourage greater partnership working.
Local Authorities have got to work together to achieve the
challenging targets we have set nationally.
“I have been impressed by the interest shown in this Fund. The public
have realised that recycling is an important factor in the way we
manage our waste, and Local authorities now have a second chance to
make applications for funding for next year. I strongly urge them to
come up with worthwhile projects which will help us make a
fundamental change in patterns of recycling across the country”
Evaluation
Evaluation of applications to the National Fund was assisted by an
Expert Panel consisting of waste experts in the public, private and
community sectors. The Panel was given Terms of Reference covering
issues such as evaluation procedure and conflict of interest. To
ensure consistency and transparency, the Panel also agreed a set of
criteria to be used in assessing each bid. The seven panel members
made no charge for their time.
For 2002/03, a total of over 190 applications to the Fund were
received, bidding for over 300 projects. The total value of
applications was approximately 150m.
The 21.3m Capital Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund has been
set up separately for the London region.
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