Waste Management Carriers: Regulation
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(1 week, 1 day ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I am not sure that the right expression is “legal dumping”; I think it is “sending things to the correct place for it to be dealt with and managed”. The big problem is that it is now attractive for criminals to make money out of, and that is what we need to stop.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, when are the Government going to bring in a proper extended producer responsibility? To go back into the history of waste, in 1970, when the environment movements grew up, Keep America Beautiful, followed by Keep Britain Tidy, were campaigns that came from the industry—Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, cigarette companies. They were creating a throwaway world but could not deal with it, so they made it our responsibility to dispose of waste. Fifty-six years later, they are still doing the same thing. Until we say to them, “You are responsible for the waste you are creating, the plastics and the things that do not recycle”, and only 9% of all our waste is recycled, we will carry on having exactly the same problem, certainly until I am dead but probably until all of us are dead.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises a really important point. I have met organisations such as Coca-Cola, which I know feels that the money that it has invested should be taken into account when we look at how these things are tackled. Producer responsibility is, again, something that the Government have been looking at. My colleague, Mary Creagh, who has responsibility for these areas, is taking this matter very seriously and, I am sure, will continue to talk to producers about what they need to be doing.
Legal Protections for Ancient Trees
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(1 week, 3 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I am very happy to look at it. Usually, the local authority will give an order for a tree to be cut down if there is a reason to be concerned about safety. I have an interest in this, as we have just had an order from our local council regarding several ash trees on our land overlooking the road. I am happy to look into it, but usually there is a safety aspect to those orders.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, the report out today from the Woodland Trust makes the interesting point that there is a 15-degree reduction when standing under a tree, compared with standing out in the open air or on the pavement, and 11 million people live in the equivalent of tree deserts. I know that the Government have a good tree-planting programme. Can the Minister update the House on how that programme is going, and on how quickly enough trees will be planted to make a material difference to lives in, for instance, the heat tomorrow?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness is right that the shade provided by trees is important, not just for human health but for animal health, for livestock and so on. As I mentioned in my Answer to the noble Baroness’s Question, we are looking at the tree action plan, which we will publish by the end of the year, and I will ensure that the concerns around climate change and increasing temperatures are looked at as part of that.
Thames Water
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(2 weeks, 2 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
We do not want to put this on to consumers, because it just does not seem to be the right approach. The noble Lord is absolutely right that serious investment needs to take place in the water industry, not just in the south-east but right across the country. Every water company, whether it is United Utilities in the north or South East Water in the south, needs to get a grip on investment to ensure that its infrastructure is absolutely fit for the future. Where that investment comes from is something that will be discussed further, I am sure, with Ofwat.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, picking up on what the noble Baroness said about reservoirs, at the launch of the CCC adaptation report the other day, many people were saying that we were not going to get the next reservoir for another 10 years and that the schedule of reservoirs was extremely slow. Can the Minister update the House on where we are with building new reservoirs, especially as we are going into dramatically warmer temperatures in the world at the moment?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The Government are very keen to crack on with building new reservoirs, which are an absolutely critical part of the infrastructure we need for the future. One reason for bringing in the Planning and Infrastructure Act was to look at how we can speed up planning for nationally significant infrastructure projects, because one reason we do not have any new reservoirs is problems with major projects. The whole purpose of that Act was to speed this up. I do not know whether 10 years is an accurate figure: I would hope that we could crack on more quickly than that.
Farming and Food Production
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
I am sure the noble Baroness is aware that no good food Bill was announced in the King’s Speech this time, and I cannot presume to guess what is going to be in the next King’s Speech. Clearly, resilience to climate change is absolutely critical. From different perspectives, we know that farmers struggle when we have severe flooding and that drought and wildfire risk is also a real problem, so improving resilience for farming to both very dry and very wet weather is an absolute priority for the Government. We have invested a record £2.65 billion in flood defences, for example, and that will include supporting farmers as well. The environmental land management schemes will also allow for grants to look at some of the impacts of climate change.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, will the Government consider extending the SFI payments to cover farmers growing leguminous crops—in other words, beans? This fixes nitrogen in the soil and makes the soil more healthy. They cannot get fertilisers at the moment because of the Strait of Hormuz blockage. Also, this is the way we want our diets to go. At the moment, there is not much money in it for farmers to plant these kinds of crops. This would be a massive step towards both combating climate change and improving health.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness makes a very good point. Anything that can help us to make our farming sector more secure is welcome, particularly when we have seen the impact of the war in the Middle East on fertiliser, for example. I know that the Farming Minister, Angela Eagle, is looking at ways to continue to improve the SFI offer, and I will take the noble Baroness’s suggestions back to her.
Plastic Pollution Reduction
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(2 months, 1 week ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Boycott
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to reduce plastic pollution; and what plans they have to set binding targets for that reduction.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)
My Lords, this Government have taken decisive action to tackle plastic pollution. We banned single-use vapes from June 2025 and will ban plastic wet wipes from spring 2027. We have introduced extended producer responsibility for packaging, implemented simpler recycling reforms, and our deposit return scheme launches in 2027. In addition, we will soon publish a circular economy growth plan for England, which will include opportunities for the chemicals and plastics sector, and we are actively pursuing an ambitious global plastic pollution treaty.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
I thank the Minister very much—a lot of that is very encouraging, but at the moment only 9% of plastic waste is ever recycled. The majority is incinerated, landfilled or exported to other countries with weak regulation. The industry treats the plastic packaging tax as a routine cost. So can the Minister explain how strong the extended producer responsibility will be, because, if we do it fully, we can get companies to change the content of plastic, making it better for society and better to recycle. For instance, in the USA, a box of Subway wrappers at the moment costs the company $50, and if the EPR were fully implemented, it would be $49. However, if it used a natural polymer, the EPR would drop to $5. So, much as with the sugar tax, we can get people to reformulate if we do it fully and hard. That, I am not sure about yet.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness makes a really important point. If we are going to bring in such reforms, we have to make sure that they will do what we want them to do, and therefore we have to work very closely with business. The EPR for packaging is now live and, from year 2 of the scheme, packaging disposal fees will be modulated so that more readily recyclable packaging will cost less and harder-to-recycle packaging will cost more, because that is the direction we want to drive things in. We are trying to create a direct financial incentive for businesses to reduce non-recyclable plastic packaging and switch to more recyclable alternatives. As part of that, clearly, we need to monitor how well it is operating and how well we are delivering it. It is important to take into account what the noble Baroness talks about within that process.
PFAS
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(3 months, 4 weeks ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Clearly, we want to move forward as quickly as we can. The noble Baroness and others will be aware that we are working with the EU at the moment. There are negotiations. We know that the EU is looking at its own approach and, clearly, we need to take that into consideration and to work alongside it. It is important to remind noble Lords that PFAS is a large and complex group of over 15,000 chemicals. There are significant differences in chemical structure and toxicity, so it is important that we work alongside the EU to tackle this effectively and efficiently for the long term.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, on the whole, on all these bans, we are way behind the EU. I have raised in this House the issue of school uniforms and polyesters being next to the skin, the largest organ in the body. I now ask the Minister to turn her attention to babies’ mattresses. Babies spend 12 to 16 hours a day on a mattress. The PVC covers leach phthalates into the atmosphere and there are fire retardants in the foam, as in most mattresses. These produce effects in babies which include cancers in later life, and there is now a definite understanding that they are hormone disruptors which are leading to lower sperm counts in males all over the world. It is important that we take a precautionary principle here and at least follow the EU all the way.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
As I said, we will be taking a precautionary principle approach. The noble Baroness talked about school uniforms; it is important that we make sure that children are protected as much as possible. We recognise the concerns in this area. Her point about mattresses is also important. The textiles industry is already moving away from PFAS voluntarily, but we clearly need to do more. I assure noble Lords that the PFAS plan is the starting point and the platform for moving forward in this area. This is not the limit of our ambition.
Global Biodiversity Loss and National Security
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(4 months, 1 week ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The proposals on farmed animals in the animal welfare strategy are designed not to harm farmers but to bring long-term improvements to animal welfare in relation to how our food is produced. Our intention is to work very closely with farmers and other relevant stakeholders so that the policies we introduce do not cause harm but support animal welfare.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, on food security, as everyone in this House knows, there are severe floods across Somerset, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and lots of growing areas. Compounding that, there are floods in Spain as well as Sicily. These are all areas where we get our fresh vegetables from, and these floods are damaging the crops for this year. We also know that there are going to be droughts after the wet weather. What are the Government doing to look, in the immediate future, at the food security situation, because many farmers cannot plant on land that is absolutely sodden with water?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right that there has been terrible flooding. Much of the change in our weather systems is inevitably caused by climate change. We are working very hard to invest more, not just in flood defences but in natural flood management. Regarding sustainable food and food security, we are trying to better support farmers on food security in sustainable practices. The new SFI offering will look more at small farmers and sustainability in order that we prepare for the long term for exactly these kinds of outcomes.
Changing Weather Patterns and Floods
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(4 months, 3 weeks ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
As someone who spent four hours baling to try to stop her house being flooded last November, I am completely in support of much of what the noble Earl is talking about. We have to take climate change seriously. We know, as I mentioned in the Answer to the first Question, that the report has indicated clearly that these issues are only going to increase. We in the department are working with other departments—this is not just a Defra issue—on how we can better tackle climate change so that future generations are safe.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
I have two questions. One is about new-build housing. As I understand it from the Planning Act, we have not enforced that new-build housing—especially that being built on flood plains, which is happening—must have flood defences. Responsibility for this is being handed back to the homeowner, and it is expensive: look it up online and you will see it is between £3,000 and £20,000.
Secondly, I know of many people who are finding insurance either hard to get or increasingly expensive because they are living in homes that are flooded almost annually. Are the Government dealing with this? Are they proposing anything like what happened in California, where the state more or less had to take over the insurance system in areas that regularly get burned?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
First, regarding development on flood plains, MHCLG is consulting on the new National Planning Policy Framework, which will introduce a dedicated chapter on planning for flood risk and coastal change to help ensure that local plans are informed by the latest evidence and that planning decisions support long-term climate adaptation and coastal management goals. That is part of those planning reforms.
Regarding flooding, as I mentioned, I have a house that is on a river. We have to use the Flood Re scheme, as other people do with insurance. That really is the most effective way to ensure that you can get affordable insurance if you live in a house that is designated to be at risk of flooding.
Yorkshire: Sustainable Water Management Solutions
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(5 months ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Obviously, I cannot comment on the specific issue to which the noble Baroness refers, but we are absolutely committed to improving the implementation of sustainable drainage systems. The noble Baroness is aware that we have updated the national planning policy framework to do so, and we introduced new national standards in June last year. They made it clear that SUDS should be designed to cope with changing climate conditions and to deliver wider benefits. We want this to work, and we recognise that SUDS are an important part of combating future flooding.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, flood defences in Monmouth were built in 2020, survived a storm in 2022 and fell down in 2025. It seems that a lot of the concrete stuff that is built is not actually resistant in the long term. What are the Government doing to look at more nature-based solutions? Japan’s insurance industry funds only nature-based solutions such as bends in rivers, as it feels that they really do provide resistance. What percentage of our flood defences is going in that direction?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness raises a very important point, and that is why we now have a strategic objective to ensure that at least 4% of flood and coastal erosion risk management investment over the next 10 years is dedicated to natural flood management. This means that we will invest at least £300 million in natural flood management over the next decade—the highest amount so far during the floods programme. We are also prioritising projects by their benefits for every pound of government investment, because we know that natural flood management has historically attracted contributions from partners. Again, this will help to boost effectiveness. We are completely committed to continued investment in these natural flood management systems.
River Pollution
Baroness Boycott Excerpts(7 months, 3 weeks ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
Clearly, it is important that we do not have litter blowing into our rivers, causing further damage and pollution, or litter generally, not just going into the watercourses. The Canal & River Trust can make its own decisions, but we work very closely with it and urge it to consider pollution in its decision-making.
Baroness Boycott (CB)
My Lords, there was a report last week in the Guardian about the operators of intensive chicken and pig units that are apparently withholding their emissions data from the public. Would the Government now follow the recommendations of the Government’s 2022 and 2023 Environmental Audit Committee inquiries and adopt a presumption against expanding intensive chicken and pig production in polluted catchments until there is a plan as to how to reduce the amount of pollution we already get, which is estimated at 70% in the River Wye from the chicken farms alone?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right that pollution from chicken farms, particularly in the River Wye, is a huge problem. I have met with people with interests in the River Wye to look at potential solutions to that, and the department is considering how best to deal with it. Planning is an important part of how we manage our sustainable agriculture going forward, and I know that the Farming Minister has been taking a particular interest in how we can look at planning to improve both pollution and animal welfare.