Named the Landfill Disposals Tax Communities scheme, the initiative will provide grants of between £5,000 and £50,000, for biodiversity, waste minimisation and other environmental projects located close to Welsh landfill sites.
It will directly replace the Landfill Communities Fund, the scheme that was introduced UK-wide alongside the Landfill Tax in 1996, allowing landfill site operators to claim a credit against their landfill tax liability for voluntary contributions made directly towards eligible projects.
Rather than operating as a tax credit scheme, a proportion of landfill disposals tax revenue will be allocated to a single distributive body to distribute, the Welsh Government has said.
Announcing the new proposals today, the Welsh Government said it is anticipated that applications for the new scheme will be considered from communities living within five miles of a landfill site and within five miles of a waste transfer station sending at least 2,000 tonnes of waste to landfill each year.
A decision about the amount of revenue allocated to the scheme will be made closer to April 2018, when the scheme will be rolled out. A procurement process to appoint the distributive body, which will oversee the scheme is also expected to begin in spring 2017.
Replacement
Commenting on the proposals, Wales’ Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford said: “We have spoken with stakeholders over the past two years as we have developed the Landfill Disposals Tax (Wales) Bill. One of the areas most often raised was the future of the Landfill Communities Fund when the tax is devolved to Wales and how a replacement scheme would operate.
“This has resulted in the development of a new Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme, which will ensure communities in Wales affected by the disposal of waste to landfill will benefit from projects to support biodiversity, minimise waste and create other environmental enhancements.
“The changes we are introducing will minimise the administrative costs involved. More importantly, the new grant scheme will maximise the amount of funding reaching community projects and help improve our environment.”
According to Wales’ Office for Budgetary Responsibility there are currently 25 landfill sites in the country, operated by 20 landfill site operators. The landfill disposals tax is expected to generate £27m when it comes into effect in 2018-19.
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