Defra seeks to clear up incentives confusion

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was setting things straight after it emerged that two different versions of forthcoming plans for the Climate Change Bill had been published on the internet and in print.

One of the versions had inferred that new powers for councils to reward recyclers and penalise non-recyclers would pave the way for permananent incentive schemes.

But, Defra confirmed a revised version of the proposals, that said the new powers are to be limited to trials.

A spokeswoman said: “The draft only proposes pilot schemes rather than full-blown recycling incentive schemes.” Defra explained that the confusion had come because the Stationary Office had published an old draft of the revised Climate Change Bill on Monday.

After a week of turmoil regarding the government's intention to try out the new household waste incentive schemes, Defra insisted it had always been considering the powers for pilot schemes only.

The spokeswoman said: “There are several drafts and the correct one can now be accessed through the Defra website. Piloting was always something that was being considered.”

“Stealth”

Opposition MPs are split over Monday's announcement on recycling incentives, with the Conservatives accusing the government of seeking “bin taxes” by stealth and the Liberal Democrats calling the plans “a step in the right direction”.

Eric Pickles, the Tories' Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government, accused the Government of “burying bad news” by using the small print of an announcement on a Climate Change Bill to suggest that the bin taxes will go ahead.

However, Liberal Democrat shadow environment secretary Chris Huhne said: “Anything which gives councils more power to decide what is appropriate in their area makes sense, as far too many decisions are centralised in Whitehall. If councils want to experiment with a scheme that offers rebates to those who recycle more, the Government should not stand in the way,” he added.

Local authorities have also welcomed the Climate Change Bill proposal to test recycling incentive schemes.

Councillor Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association's environment board, which has long campaigned for measures to incentivise residents to recycle more, warmly welcomed the announcement.

He said: “The Government's decision to provide a power for councils to introduce financial incentive pilot schemes for reducing waste is a significant step in the right direction.”

“We look forward to working with Defra to develop schemes that will help to reduce household waste and boost recycling. It is not also up to local councils to decide if they thing financial incentives will work in their area,” he continued.