Clause 166 - First-year allowances for expenditure on environmentally beneficial plant or machinery
Finance Bill
6:15 pm
Mr John Healey (Economic Secretary, HM Treasury; Wentworth, Labour)
Clause 166—I note that we are straying somewhat to schedule 30, so I shall incorporate it in my comments—will enable businesses to claim a 100 per cent. first-year allowance on investments in designated environmentally beneficial technologies. The scheme is an important part of the Government's commitment to protecting the environment and conserving natural resources while continuing to ensure the competitiveness of UK industry.
The qualifying technologies and products will be specified in the water technology list, which will be issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs during the summer. It will be issued on the Department's website, which will give full details of the technologies and the criteria, as was done for the energy scheme that we introduced in 2001. The technologies on the list have been chosen for their potential to minimise water use or to improve water quality.