In the Spring Budget 2020, the government announced the CCA scheme would be extended for two years. A consultation on the changes has recently been carried out and based on responses, the UK government has made the following decisions:
- There will be an additional two-year Target Period for 2021-22 (TP5).
- Participants may benefit from Climate Change Levy (CCL) relief until March 2025.
- The scheme is open to new entrants until the 30 November 2020.
- The buyout price for those who do not meet their TP5 target, and who wish to remain in the scheme beyond June 2023, will be £18 per tonne of CO2 equivalent emitted over their target.
- The new TP5 has some differences to the previous four:
- Targets will be set for TP5 later in the year based upon performance in 2018.
- No surplus gained from the previous Target Periods can be used to help meet the new targets.
Those currently in the scheme can be rolled forward into the extension by accepting updated agreements which will be prepared automatically.
The re-opening of the scheme for the final Target Period means operators who had previously left, or those who had never joined, have an opportunity to join. More details can be found on our website www.ccl.nfuenergy.co.uk.
Those who left the CCA scheme due to not meeting targets should consider re-joining as the baseline is the performance achieved in 2018, which may be much more relevant.
Your CCL Discount is Valuable – Don’t throw it away
Those already in the scheme may not have realised how much the discount is worth to their business. We’ve calculated that the average site in the NFU CCL scheme saved 14 times more CCL in the year April 2019 to March 2020 than at the beginning of that decade. For them, it has kept their much smaller CCL contribution static. Meanwhile, those not in the scheme will have seen drastic increases in the CCL tax paid on energy, with further increases to come.
Targets and new base year change
In 2017, the government set a goal to improve energy efficiency in businesses and industry by at least 20% between 2015 and 2030, then more recently to net zero carbon by 2050. As a consequence, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is expected to set targets for the new TP5 based on a 1.67% p.a. saving since 2018 (compared to the current 1.17% to 1.89% p.a. saving since 2008, depending on the sector).
NFU CCL Scheme and how to join
The NFU CCL Scheme is responsible for the Horticulture, Poultry and Pig CCL schemes. If you are not a member of the NFU CCL Scheme, you now have until the 30 October 2020 to join, please make sure you get your application to us by the end of October 2020 to ensure we have enough time to process your application. So, give the team a call on 024 7669 6512 and we can talk you through whether it is worth joining or not.