To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the written ministerial statement of 24 November 2009, Official Report, columns 48-9WS, on departmental expenditure limit (2009-10), for what reason the funding for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is being transferred to the Department for Energy and Climate Change; and which department is now the sponsoring department for WRAP. (308372)

In Budget 2009, the Chancellor announced that he was making available £10 million to support the development of anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting projects in 2009-2010. Some £8.4 million of this funding was allocated to DEFRA with the remainder going to the devolved administrations. DEFRA and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) decided that the timescales associated with the planning and construction of new anaerobic digestion and in-vessel composting projects precluded DEFRA from fully utilising the Budget 2009 funding in the current financial year. Therefore DEFRA, HM Treasury and DECC agreed that £4.4 million of this allocation should be transferred to the latter to allow it to accelerate the implementation of the Anaerobic Digestion Demonstration Programme in 2009-2010. This programme is delivered by WRAP on behalf of DEFRA, but is funded by DECC’s Environmental Transformation Fund. In recognition of this arrangement, DECC will be making a reciprocal transfer of £4.4 million to DEFRA in 2010-2011.

WRAP is mainly funded by DEFRA with subsidiary funding from DECC and the devolved administrations. Therefore DEFRA remains the sponsoring department for WRAP.