Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the importance of women's oral health in bridging the gap between prison care and community health services; and what part that will play in their renewed women's health strategy.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Women’s oral health matters for pain, nutrition, mental wellbeing, confidence and for safe resettlement. Although no assessment has been made, evidence shows higher unmet dental need in prisons. Prisoners often enter prison with higher rates of dental decay and oral disease than their peers in the community but with lower levels of treatment. This was most recently reviewed in “A survey of prison dental services in England, Wales and Northern Ireland 2017 to 2018” published by Public Health England in 2019.

Our approach to tackling inequalities brings together the national prison dental specification, the Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review and the Women’s Health Strategy. We will strengthen trauma informed, preventative care in women’s prisons, promote pre-release dental planning wherever possible and use RECONNECT to support GP and dental appointments on release. RECONNECT offers liaison, advocacy and support to engage with community-based health services to help ensure health needs of people leaving prison are met. This helps improve treatment continuity and reduces inequalities between custody and community care.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to introducing a single reporting mechanism for farmers and land managers to report fly-tipping incidents.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local councils are responsible for investigating most fly-tipping incidents, including those on private land. The gov.uk site has a single page entitled ‘Report Flytipping or Illegal Waste Dumping’ which directs people either to the relevant local authority via postcode search or to Crimestoppers, depending on the scale of what is being reported.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are bringing forward to co-ordinate joint working between police forces to tackle fly-tipping.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Local authorities are responsible for investigating most fly-tipping incidents. Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), through which we work with a wide range of interested parties, including local authorities and the National Police Chiefs Council, to share good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping.  The NFTPG has developed various practical tools including a guide on how councils can set up and run effective local partnerships, such as with the police, to tackle fly-tipping. These are available at: https://nftpg.com/.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to (1) bring forward new technologies for nutrient recovery, and (2) improve cross-body coordination of the monitoring of nutrient recovery.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

We will soon be publishing the Circular Economy Growth Plan, which has been developed in collaboration with our industry-led Circular Economy Taskforce, over 1,000 external stakeholders, and cross-government officials.

The Growth Plan will set out how we will stimulate the investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure and innovation needed to turn materials that would otherwise become waste into economically valuable resources for businesses across England to support growth in sectors including: agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; textiles; and transport.  We recognise the importance of nutrient recovery, including bringing forward relevant new technologies and ensuring effective cross-body coordination of the monitoring of nutrient recovery. As we develop the Growth Plan and continue our work, we will consider the evidence for action right across the economy and evaluate what interventions may be needed.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase public awareness of the household waste duty of care and the responsibility of households not to pass their waste to a third party.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra chairs the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group which aims to develop and disseminate various practical tools on tackling fly-tipping. These include a guide on how local authorities can raise awareness of the household waste duty of care, which can help to prevent householders from giving their waste to a fly-tipper. The guide provides suggested messaging, including the impact of fly-tipping locally.