The proceeds from the government’s upcoming 5p plastic bag levy in England are to go to charities, the Deputy Prime Minister has said.

Nick Clegg is set to officially announce the charge on bags given to customers of supermarkets and major stores at the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, which began today.

Clegg has said that environmental charities will benefit from the initiative. A spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats told civilsociety.co.uk that specific organisations are yet to be named.

The English ‘bag tax’ is set to begin in 2015, while a similar scheme will start in Scotland next year. A 5p-per-bag charge has been enforced in Wales and Northern Ireland since 2011.

A spokeswoman from the British Retail Consortium confirmed to civilsociety.co.uk that the scheme in England would follow the Wales model, as opposed to Northern Ireland, where the proceeds do not go to charity.

The latest statistics from the Welsh government reveal that over £4m has been donated or earmarked for good causes as a result of the introduction of the 5p bag charge. The number of single use carrier bags given out in major supermarkets in Wales fell by 81 per cent between 2010 and 2012.

Marks & Spencer already charges shoppers in England 5p for its own plastic bags and has done so since May 2008. The retail chain has raised over £6m for causes such as Groundwork, WWF and the Marine Conservation Society in that time.