Welsh Government closes Aggregates Levy Fund

When it was introduced in 2002, it was intended that around 10% pa of the Levy revenue would be spend on a variety of community and environmental projects as a means to deliver environmental improvement across the sector and reflect the local impacts of mineral extraction.

MPA has consistently supported the operation of the ALF as a means to support the delivery of local community benefits and environmental improvements associated with the minerals sector. Following the scrapping of the English scheme in 2011, MPA has called for the introduction of a smaller scale scheme which could still bring significant public benefits, but this proposal has so far been rejected by Government.

Nick Horsley, MPA Director Wales, commented “The decision of the Welsh Government is extremely disappointing for mineral operators. The ALF has been an integral part of the Aggregates Levy scheme and was a way for a small proportion of the revenue raised by the Levy to bring real benefit to local communities in quarrying areas. As the minerals sector is one of the last remaining heavy industries in Wales, the end of the Fund removes a positive mechanism that built dialogue and joint working between industry and local people which helped to raise awareness of the contribution the industry makes to the economy.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/europe-cis/30012017/welsh-government-closes-aggregates-levy-fund/