Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the full estimated out-turn cost for each small modular reactor project planned by Great British Nuclear will include costs for a quantified risk register, and the value of any money set against a quantified risk register.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
GBN (Great British Nuclear) is pushing forward its small modular reactor competition for UK deployment, which is based on fairness and transparency to ensure value for the British taxpayer. Final decisions will be taken in the spring.
GBN follows usual government best practice for delivering major projects.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the full estimated out-turn cost for each small modular reactor project planned by Great British Nuclear will take account of optimism bias, and include the value of any money set against optimism bias.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath
GBN (Great British Nuclear) is pushing forward its small modular reactor competition for UK deployment, which is based on fairness and transparency to ensure value for the British taxpayer. Final decisions will be taken in the spring.
GBN follows usual government best practice for delivering major projects.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their timescale for the next local elections in the devolution areas on the Devolution Primary Programme where the May 2025 local elections have been postponed.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government has been clear that our intention is that elections for mayors for the Devolution Priority Areas will be held in May 2026. The election to the county councils of East Sussex, Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and West Sussex and the unitary councils of Isle of Wight and Thurrock will be postponed to take place alongside the Mayoral election in May 2026. Elections to other councils in the Devolution Priority Programme areas are also scheduled to take place in May 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much recyclable waste was incinerated in 2023.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A total of 18 million tonnes of waste was incinerated in 2023 in England (Source: Waste Management Summary for England for 2023). This compares with 17.2 million tonnes in 2022. Information on how much of this was recyclable is not held.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the National Security Online Information Team’s work on freedom of expression.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
NSOIT’s commitment to protecting freedom of expression is embedded in its compliance policies and practices. For example, NSOIT has a blanket ban on referring content from journalists and politicians to social media platforms. Its privacy notices are publicly available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much residual waste was incinerated in 2022 (1) by weight, and (2) as a proportion of all residual waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long the nation has seen recycling rates stagnate and relied on burning or burying waste.
The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy, a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. Key to this commitment is the reduction of residual waste. The Government has set out that it will only back new waste incineration projects that meet strict conditions and that these are in accordance with the long-term residual waste reduction target.
Estimates of residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) in England, and their treatment method, for 2022 were published in April 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/estimates-of-residual-waste-excluding-major-mineral-wastes-and-municipal-residual-waste-in-england).
It is not possible to provide a figure for residual waste as a proportion of all waste. A comparable figure of all waste is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much residual waste was disposed of in 2022 (1) by weight, and (2) as a proportion of all waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For too long the nation has seen recycling rates stagnate and relied on burning or burying waste.
The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy, a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, waste is reduced, we accelerate the path to net zero, we see investment in critical infrastructure and green jobs, our economy prospers, and nature thrives. Key to this commitment is the reduction of residual waste. The Government has set out that it will only back new waste incineration projects that meet strict conditions and that these are in accordance with the long-term residual waste reduction target.
Estimates of residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) in England, and their treatment method, for 2022 were published in April 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/estimates-of-residual-waste-excluding-major-mineral-wastes-and-municipal-residual-waste-in-england).
It is not possible to provide a figure for residual waste as a proportion of all waste. A comparable figure of all waste is not available.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following DEFRA’s press release ‘Government to crack down on waste incinerators with stricter standards for new builds’ published on 30 December 2024, what is the timescale for requiring carbon capture and storage technology to be installed on (1) new, and (2) existing, incinerators recovering energy from waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has responsibility for decarbonisation readiness requirements and support for waste CCUS projects. Defra officials work closely with officials in his department on this. The decarbonisation readiness requirements will come into force for new and substantially refurbished energy from waste facilities from 28 February 2026.
The Government has developed a business model to support carbon capture, usage, and storage (CCUS) waste projects and stimulate private sector investment, including project finance. By providing an incentive mechanism for waste CCUS, we can support the sector to decarbonise and support carbon budget and net zero commitments.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to DEFRA’s press release ‘Government to crack down on waste incinerators with stricter standards for new builds’ published on 30 December 2024 which stated that “the country will only need to manage 17.6 million tonnes of non-recyclable waste by 2042”, what estimate they have made of the weight of residual waste from (1) household and (2) other sources to arrive at that figure.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is a statutory target to ensure that the total mass of residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) in England does not exceed 287kg per person in 2042. This is roughly equivalent to reducing residual waste arisings on a kg per person basis by 50% by 2042 from 2019 levels. This includes residual waste from both municipal (household and ‘household-like’) and non-municipal sources. It excludes major mineral wastes, the predominant and largely inert waste typically arising from construction and demolition sources, such as soils, concrete, ceramics and dredging spoils.
The figure of 17.6 million tonnes of residual waste arisings in 2042, in the context of meeting the 2042 target, is calculated by taking the 287kg figure and multiplying this by the Office for National Statistics population projection for 2042. We do not have estimates of the proportion or weight of this that will be made up of municipal waste and the proportion or weight that will be made up of non-municipal waste.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much residual waste was disposed of in 2023 (1) by weight, and (2) as a proportion of all waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data on residual waste disposed of and incinerated in 2023 is not yet available. Estimates of residual waste (excluding major mineral wastes) and municipal residual waste in England for 2023 are due to be published in Spring 2025.