The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Department for Local Government are amongst the worst hit government branches in the 2015/16 Spending Review.
Despite claims of being the ‘greenest government ever’, the two government departments with portfolios in waste, recycling and environmental protection are amongst the worst casualties of the cuts.
Defra will have its departmental spending budget cut by 9.6 per cent, while the Department for Communities and Local Government had both its communities and local government resource budgets cut by 10 per cent. However, despite the cuts, Osborne announced that Council Tax rates will be frozen for 2014/15 and 2015/16, putting further strain on councils’ ability to raise money for expensive frontline services, such as waste management.
Commenting on the cuts Deputy Chief Executive of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) Chris Murphy said: “We knew that this Spending Review would herald more tough cuts once again, but it is disappointing to see that the two key departments of critical importance to the waste sector are once again among the hardest hit.”
Murphy added that CIWM has voiced “unease” about Defra’s ability to deliver results within its current resources, and that this “unease” has only increased with the announcement of the administration budget being cut by a further 9.6 per cent.