Contaminated land fund cut

Defra has announced it is closing a scheme that provides grants to help cover the costs of investigating and cleaning up contaminated land in England

Defra minister Lord de Mauley has confirmed that the contaminated land capital programme, which provides funds to the Environment Agency and local authorities, will close on 31 March.

Between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2017, the environment department aims to provide a maximum of £500,000 a year for “absolute emergency cases” and to support ongoing priority remediation projects. However, this represents just one-quarter of the annual funding currently available.

As of 1 April 2017, Defra will cease to support any contaminated land projects.

The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) warned the move could hamper efforts to tackle pollution.

“Local authorities are still under a legal duty to inspect their area and if the money is not available from grant funding, contaminated land officers will end up having to make a case to senior management for funding. This means going into battle against other frontline services,” said Andrew Wiseman, a member of CIWEM’s contaminated land network.