The team, which is likely to be known as the “Delivery Unit” will be charged with delivering many of the recommendations contained within last year's Strategy Unit report into waste and recycling.
At the heart of the new team will be a project director who could come from outside the civil service with the post expected to attract a high salary. The team is expected to be based within, and report to, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Delivery Unit is expected to work alongside WRAP – the Waste and Resources Action Programme – which will continue to have market development as its main activity.
Details of the new Unit are expected to be released by DEFRA this week after the chancellor of the Exchequer has delivered his Budget Speech.
Waste minimisation
It is also expected that WRAP will gain a number of activities in line with proposals contained within the Cabinet Office's Strategy Unit report. It is set to take over responsibility for public awareness about the need for recycling and will take over the National Waste Awareness Initiative. As part of this work WRAP is also expected to take on a new role, that of encouraging waste minimisation. The organisation is also in the process of acquiring a second office block in Banbury to house additional staff who will be needed for the new work.
The Budget papers may say how the government intends to spend the 100 million it will gain for public spending on waste and recycling following the changes to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.
At least 21 million will go to waste and recycling related projects which were already in the LTCS through the Legacy Fund. Of the balance, about 20 million or more may go to WRAP with the remainder handed to the Delivery Unit. Some of the Unit's money will help to meet its overheads at a time when DEFRA sees its overall budget coming under pressure.
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