18 The Department has allocated around £750 million worth of PFI credits to local authorities undertaking PFI waste infrastructure projects and in the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 it received a further provisional allocation of £2 billion. Achieving value for money from this commitment depends on whether: enough PFI facilities are delivered to meet EU landfill targets; the deals give the prospect of value for money; and the projects are subsequently managed well in operation. The Department was initially slow to address these issues and prior to 2006 few new PFI facilities were delivered. Since 2006, the Department has adopted a programme management approach which has developed the market and achieved a more rapid flow of new and larger PFI contracts. It has strengthened its arrangements for oversight of, and support to, local authorities who enter into waste PFI contracts. England is likely to meet its 2010 landfill reduction targets but to meet the 2013 target the Department will need to reduce substantially the time taken to procure projects and bring them into operation.
1 | Projected performance against EU landfill targets and potential fines if 2013 landfill target exceeded | |||||
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| A | B | C = (A-B) | D | E = (C X D) |
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| Projected Biodegradable Municipal Waste to Landfill 000's of tonnes | Total allowance 000's of tonnes | Total excess over allowance 000's of tonnes | Fine per tonne of excess £ | Total estimated fine for 2013 £m |
Scenario 1 The Department's Base case | High Delivery | 7,512 | 7,460 | 52 | 150 | 8 |
Scenario 2 | Medium Delivery | 8,853 | 7,460 | 1,393 | 150 | 209 |
Scenario 3 | Low Delivery | 9,898 | 7,460 | 2,438 | 150 | 366 |
Source: Defra | ||||||
NOTE The fines are based on £150 per tonne sent to landfill in 2013 in excess of the 2013 EU landfill target. This is the rate that central government will fine local authorities for missing the 2013 targets. | ||||||