Envirowise funding remains in doubt

Fears grew about funding for Envirowise as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published its 2008/09 budget settlement last Thursday, failing to include figures for the government-funded body.

DEFRA would not divulge the budget settlement for Envirowise, which provides environmental advice to industry. However, it indicated that cuts were likely both to Envirowise and the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP) after a review of the delivery of its waste and environmental objectives was announced. NISP is another government-funded initiative supporting environmental improvements in UK business.

DEFRA did announce, however, that the budget for the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) for 2008/09 would be £43.2M, equivalent to a cut of around 27%. WRAP, like Envirowise is partially funded through the Landfill Tax.

In a statement DEFRA said: “In the three years since the [Business Resource Efficiency and Waste] Programme was established, the rationale for government intervention has moved on. The business community increasingly understands the case for integrating environmental and business objectives with government policies such as the Landfill Tax, Climate Change Levy and EU Emissions Trading Scheme ensuring shorter pay-back periods for business in implementing environmental improvement.

“DEFRA will in future focus its funding through its expert delivery partners on providing evidence and advice to the business community to maximise influence and catalyse action.”

“With these changes in mind we are establishing a review of DEFRA’s delivery landscape for providing support to business, consumers and the public sector in the drive to a low carbon, resource efficient future.”