The Government has told councils they will now face fines for exceeding new landfill allowances. Environment minister, Ben Bradshaw, confirmed in his speech at the Beacon council learning exchange last week, that councils would now be penalised for exceeding landfill targets. But, he claimed the flexibility of trading allowances should mean they never had to pay the fines. Mr Bradshaw said: ‘Let me stress that the Government is serious about the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) and we will impose penalties on authorities which fail to meet their obligations – otherwise it is unfair on good performers.’ However, council leaders say the fine system will place an increasing burden on the council taxpayer, unless councils are given greater power to cut council tax and instead, charge householders directly for waste management. LGA chairman Lord Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said: ‘There needs to be a radical overhaul of the way in which rubbish is thrown away, otherwise there is a real danger that council tax bills will have to rise, and the environment will continue to suffer.’
