Ministers deny bin charge retreat

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The government has denied it is guilty of a "wholehearted retreat" on plans to bring in a system of charges or rewards to encourage people to recycle more.

Last year ministers said all councils in England would be able to introduce "bin tax" schemes, but this was later restricted to five pilot authorities.

The Commons local government committee has said this will mean EU targets on waste will be harder to reach.

But the government said piloting schemes was a "sensible approach".

'Would be criticised'

In their joint response to the committee's findings, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs added that it would be "up to local authorities" to decide their own plans.

They also disagreed with the MPs' point that the policy now looked "half-hearted", adding that the government "would rightly have been criticised" had it failed to consult.

The UK has to reduce waste going into landfill by nearly two thirds by 2020 to meet EU targets.

In the Climate Change Bill there are proposals for five areas to pilot a scheme aimed at getting more people to recycle waste.

Householders who recycle the most would get a financial reward; those who recycle the least would face a fine.

In May last year the government said all 354 local authorities in England would be allowed to introduce the scheme - but this was restricted when the bill was published in November. An England-wide rollout was put back until 2012/13.

Under the current proposals, local authorities would not be able to raise any money from the schemes themselves - all revenue taken would be redistributed in rewards.

The select committee, which reported in February, said it was "hard to see why any council will want to set up a complicated charging scheme that earns it no money and risks widespread public approval".

But the government responded that local authorities would save collection costs as people threw less rubbish away.

It also denied the committee's complaint that "capping" the amount councils could charge people ran "counter to the government's rhetoric".

It said the bill contained a "reserve position to limit, in exceptional circumstances, how much a household can be charged in any financial year", adding that this was an "additional protection for residents".

The government added: "Our reason for proceeding on a pilot-basis initially is to collect high-quality evidence. It's not about retreating."