London&#39s 21.3m fund should be matched with private money

The implementation board chairman, John Duffy, said: “There is no way the 21m is big enough to achieve London's needs. We're being very tough with the boroughs and they appreciate that. If there is any private money out there then we have to bring that in.”

However, speaking at a meeting of the Greater London Authority's Environment Committee, Mr Duffy said that had London not been guaranteed the 21.3m fund separate from the rest of England's 140million windfall, the boroughs would not collectively have received as much.

Mr Duffy, who is also the mayor's senior environmental policy advisor, was also joined by Simon Read and Shirley Rodrigues in reporting on progress with the distribution of the 7.6 million available this year. The board hope to substantially increase the size of the fund by stipulating that applicant local authorities must match the funds they are seeking with money taken from other areas.

Mr Read told the committee: “In London, we're trying to double the value, by saying to boroughs that if you want to apply, we have to see &#39add;itionality' – this may be through partnerships, it may be by the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme – and we want to see what the local authority can do to tighten their own budgets.”

He also advised that local authorities would have to look to the private sector to provide investment. He said: “We're hoping that every million that comes from the capital investment, the waste industry will put in four times as much.”

A draft business plan has been published, to be approved by DEFRA before release, which mirrors the government's priorities for the 140million fund outside London. The London fund will be roughly 50% capital and 50% revenue – the revenue proportion being capped at that percentage to encourage the investment in longer-term projects.

Current plans for the 21million include at least 5.5million for kerbside projects and 5million for new infrastructure. One of the bids for the money will come from the GLA itself for a London-wide public awareness programme, and Mr Read told the committee that the team is also looking to invest in 'neighbourhood recycling watch' campaigns.

“There's a lot of opportunities for local groups to knock on doors and get householders to recycle at a higher rate,” Mr Read said. “That could be a very good way of increasing recycling. The evaluating criteria would score higher if that was in the application.”

The members of the implementation team, currently working part-time due to a lack of financial support, are currently helping boroughs in the application process. The first handout is expected in March next year.