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Simon Hughes Champions London Organisation
January 17, 2005 4:45 PM
Simon Hughes, MP for North Southwark & Bermondsey & President of the Liberal Democrats has taken up the battle for public funding of Bermondsey-based Fareshare.
FareShare is a national charity which offers an original and environmentally sound way of reducing the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. It does so by collecting surplus unused quality food from all areas of the food industry and delivering it to local charities which are registered with the programme.
FareShare accepts all kinds of food, including fresh, ambient and frozen, which is still within its use-by date, but no longer has a commercial outlet.
Unfortunately, funding has now been withdrawn by the government. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs claims that FareShare is just one of a number of small-scale projects which will lose funding under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS). Support for small charities such as FareShare is being replaced by support for larger projects, as the UK tries to meet its target of reducing the amount of food going to landfill by 60% by 2016.
Simon Hughes has taken the battle to Parliament and asked Environment ministers, why Fareshare has had its funding withdrawn with no notice or alternative. The Minister of State, Elliot Morley has promised to reply as soon as possible.
Simon Hughes said: "Bermondsey-based Fareshare offers an environmentally sustainable way of recycling surplus quality food. It also helps a large number of vulnerable people to have safe, cheap and good food."
"Not only has this government cut the charity's funding with almost no notice. It has also said no so far to any immediate alternative funding. This decision seems ludicrous, particularly because 1/3 of biodegradable waste is produced by the food industry."
"It is a shame that this government has decided to prioritise quantity, rather than quality in its efforts to increase recycling rates."
"I look forward to the minister's reply. I shall do all I can to find continuing funding for this very worthwhile project."
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITOR
FareShare is a national charity based in Bermondsey, which collects surplus food from all areas of the food industry. It delivers it to local charities that are registered with the programme.
FareShare accepts all kinds of food, including fresh, ambient and frozen, that is still within its use by date, but no longer has a commercial outlet.
For more information about FareShare's aims, contact Alex Green on 020 7394 2468
SH oral Defra Question 13/01/05
Municipal Waste
7. Simon Hughes (Southwark, North and Bermondsey) (LD): What steps she is taking to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill sites. [207849]
The Minister for the Environment and Agri-environment (Mr. Elliot Morley): The Government have several mechanisms in place to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill. The most important are the landfill allowances trading scheme, the waste implementation programme and the £3 per tonne annual increase in landfill tax, which will lead to a rate in the medium term of £35 per tonne.
13 Jan 2005 : Column 422
Simon Hughes: I am grateful for the reply, and I support the Government's initiative. However, given that-almost incredibly-more than a third of landfill comes from the food industry, and that a national charity called FareShare, which is based in Bermondsey but works throughout the country, takes quality unused food and redistributes it to organisations such as those that deal with the homeless, will the Minister examine the reasons for the sudden loss, with no notice, of Government support for that organisation, which contributes so much to reducing landfill? Will he talk to his colleagues in the Treasury and elsewhere to reinstate the support, because FareShare makes a huge ethical and practical contribution?
Mr. Morley: I understand the hon. Gentleman's point and I have a great deal of sympathy with FareShare's work. He will appreciate that the top objective for proper sustainable management must be to minimise waste. That is the Government's objective.
The issue about FareShare and the way in which it fits in is complex and the hon. Gentleman may appreciate a bit more detail. I am happy to write to him about that.
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