MPA revises restoration guarantee fund

Quarry Products Association Restoration Fund renamed Mineral Products Association Restoration Fund

AT the fourth Mineral Products Association (MPA) Members’ General Assembly and AGMs on 4 June, it was agreed that the name of the Quarry Products Association Restoration Guarantee Fund should change to the Mineral Products Association Restoration Guarantee Fund.

Members were also told that after a lengthy review of the Fund, the Mineral Products Association Restoration Guarantee Fund board had found that it still performed a valued role in filling a potential gap in the statutory powers available to ensure that mineral sites are properly restored in the event of the financial failure of an MPA member.

Revised Articles of Association were agreed at the AGM which brings them in line with the latest legislative requirements, but the overall operation of the Fund, which pays for restoration of any member’s site if they become insolvent, has not altered.

The scheme is endorsed by government in England through a specific mention in the Technical Guidance to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) [para.51, p.22].

Richard Stevens, chairman of the Restoration Guarantee Fund, said: ‘Changing the name of the Fund to the Mineral Products Association Restoration Guarantee Fund is a logical progression in the light of the formation of the MPA. The review of the Articles of Association has made them a clearer and more robust basis for the operation of the Fund.’

The review of the Articles was originally commissioned to bring them into line with changes in the membership and, notably, to clear up any doubts about whether or not dimension stone operations were covered. Cement operations, which have their own arrangements, are specifically excluded. The Fund covers England, Scotland and Wales.