An incoming tax imposed on the decontamination of ports, rivers and canals will have “grave consequences for investment” and ruin developments needed for economic growth, ministers have been warned.
From April next year, the Treasury plans to remove a key exemption that supports the use of stabilisers in the safe disposal of contaminated sediment known as dredgings, which is vital to the management and development of water-based areas. The British Ports Association, whose members own and operate more than 400 ports, terminals and facilities, fears the tax could add tens of millions of pounds to major projects, making them impossible to fund.
In a letter to Dan Tomlinson, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, BPA Chief Executive Richard Ballantyne wrote:
“Alongside our partners in the rivers, canals and waste management sectors, including renewable Energy from Waste and Biomass plants, we are writing to express our alarm at imminent changes to a landfill tax exemption that will have a minimal impact on the Exchequer but will have grave consequences for investment in several important ports…
“The consequences of this decision will badly damage the Government’s commitment to boosting growth, economic stability and its mission-led focus on infrastructure. The problems include, but are not limited to, the collapse of major industrial and development projects, particularly in ports, rivers and canals… delaying net zero as green energy and industrial projects in port areas become unviable.”
The letter also warns that “tens of thousands of jobs” could be lost in the North-east, which has been earmarked for industrial growth, particularly in the advanced manufacturing and renewables sectors located in port regions.
Signatories to the letter include:
- The Canal & River Trust, which looks after 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales
- Forth Ports Group, which comprises eight ports in Scotland and England
- Land & Water, the UK’s largest inland dredging and environmental marine contractor
- Augean, which operates 22 waste services sites across the UK
- Rothen Group, leading waterway engineering and maintenance experts
- MVV Environmental, which operates four Energy from Waste and Biomass facilities in the UK
- Ebsford Environmental, leading river restoration and flood management group
Speaking this weekend, Richard Ballantyne added:
“This change to landfill tax, which was buried alongside the Budget, seriously undermines the Government’s growth plans. Major port and waterways projects are planned, but they will have to be delayed, scrapped or reviewed because of the additional financial burden. Ministers need to act fast and ditch this tax before it damages their plans for growth and building the renewable energy industry in port regions.”
