The Minister's comments on the allocation of the 140m came in response to a question from Chris Grayling (Conservative) of Epsom and Newell during environment questions in the House of Commons. Mr Grayling said that Tandridge council in Surrey had achieved a recycling rate of 21% while Mr Meacher's own consituency authority of Oldham was at 4.5%. He asked why none of the 140m had yet been spent and accused the minister of robbing environmental funds to pay for the government's recycling strategy which is “a shambles”.
Mr Meacher responded saying that he congratulated the successful authorities and after pointing out that Oldham is controlled by the Liberal Democrats, said it “is precisely those councils like Oldham that I am targeting.” He promised to make a statement on allocation of the 140m “very soon”.
On Environmental Trusts, Mr Meacher said it is the case that the Landfill Tax Credits Scheme (LTCS) is being looked at again and a statement would be made “within the next few weeks”. He mentioned the indicative guidelines that 65% of the funds should go on sustainable waste management including recycling. He added that in the case of wildlife and other environmental trusts the achievements they have made will not be threatened “by any redistribution”.
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