GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO HELP YORK WITH LANDFILL TAX BURDEN (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO HELP YORK WITH LANDFILL TAX BURDEN

May 16, 2008 6:00 AM

In yet another embarrassing u-turn, the Government has refused to return the increase in landfill tax it has received from York and councils up and down the country. In a letter to York Council, the Government said councils cannot hope for anymore funding to help improve recycling or other services, and has denied that landfill tax has created any financial burden.

York Council was one of many councils around the country that signed a recent letter to the Government, asking them to return the landfill tax money owed to councils, as promised. Landfill tax is designed to act as an incentive to encourage recycling, and the Government had always said it would return this money to councils to help them provide recycling facilities, but has failed to honour its promise.

York council tax payers will this year pay £2m of landfill tax which, under the Government's promise, should be returned in grants to improve recycling rates. £0.5m of this is due to the large and unexpected increase in landfill tax (from £24 to £32 per tonne) which the Government enforced last month. The Government's unfair treatment has left York Council with a heavy financial burden, particularly on waste. Yet despite this additional bill, in its letter the Government says: "We do not expect that councils will struggle with financial pressures in dealing with waste or elsewhere".

Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, Cllr Andrew Waller, announced the news today. He said, "The response from the Government is ridiculous. Clearly they have no idea of the financial burden that councils are under, and how the increase this year will affect our budgeting."

The Government's letter also stated: "We are not in the business of guaranteeing specific streams of funding for specific purposes", to which Cllr Waller said: "This is another u-turn by the Government, as they always said they would return landfill tax for recycling purposes, which either by landfill tax or the additional cost of recycling collections, is increasing council tax levels."

Last month Cllr Nigel Ayre launched the Liberal Democrat's campaign demanding that the Government return the landfill tax it owes York. Following the Government's response, he said:

"When I launched the campaign, the Government had been silent on whether they intended to return this money to councils - something they had previously promised to do, to help the environment. Now they have broken their promise and told us we won't be getting our money back, proving this is just another stealth tax."

"The people of York are taking their responsibility seriously and we have seen recycling increase massively from 12 per cent under Labour in 2003 to 42% in 2008. The Government should be rewarding us for this achievement, not punishing us with further hidden taxation that can only hinder further recycling in York, and I will therefore continue to campaign for a fairer deal for residents in York."

Cllr Ayre and Cllr Waller will be asking residents to sign the Liberal Democrats' landfill tax petition, calling on the Government to return the money it owes York. They will be at Bishopthorpe Road shops in South Bank, between 11am and 1pm on Saturday 17th May.