New Year Message 2005
Saturday, 1 January 2005
New years message from the Chief Executive.
As we begin a New Year, it is a good time to look back at what has been achieved and look forward to the future. It is heartening to see many of the changes that have been implemented now starting to deliver benefits. The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme is gaining renewed energy and spirit, and there is a greater working together by all Stakeholders to push forward improvements. This teamwork can only benefit the Scheme and everyone involved in it, and will lead to the LTCS getting the recognition it deserves.
- During 2004 an LTCS Forum has been introduced. Chaired by HMC&E, this represents a mechanism by which Stakeholder representatives can raise suggestions for improvements to the Scheme. Already a number of ideas have been implemented, and we look forward to others being raised in 2005. Also, during 2004 ENTRUST have started to have regular quarterly meetings with ADEB (Association of Distributive Environmental Bodies - which represents some of the larger EBs). These meetings help to identify Scheme improvements and provide a useful mechanism to implement Scheme best practise, which will continue over 2005.
- Value For Money indicators have been introduced to Scheme Forms in 2004 in order to enable LTCS benefits to be measured and reported from 2005 onwards. A Small Grants Scheme has been developed in 2004 to reduce the administrative burden on the distribution of funds below a certain size. A pilot exercise is currently taking place with a couple of the larger EBs in order to test this system out in readiness for a formal launch in April 2005. A process for EB Certification has been developed in 2004, enabling every EB the option of working to agreed standards. This voluntary process will raise the working standards across the Scheme, and since becoming Certified will reduce the regulatory risk of an EB, this will lead to a consequential reduced regulatory burden. Some EBs have already put themselves forward for assessment to become Certified, and we expect many more to follow in 2005.
- In 2004 we introduced ENTRUST ON-LINE, a web-site that enables any Environmental Body to complete their LTCS administrative details over the internet. This simple click and go web-site may be accessed by any EB via their individual EB Account, after registering for a password with ENTRUST. During 2004 we have optimised this system by working closely with the larger EBs and now over half of the Scheme administrative traffic may be undertaken electronically. Over 2005 we anticipate many more EBs coming on-line, although we promise to retain paper-based forms for time being for our smaller EBs who need these.