Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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/.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the increase in energy prices and the tariffs on UK steel imports to the United States of America, when will the steel strategy be published.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting the UK steel sector. We are cutting electricity costs for steel producers by reducing network charges via the British Industry Supercharger by 90%, up from 60%, as announced in our Industrial Strategy.
We are also ensuring the long-term viability and competitiveness of the sector through the steel strategy. A robust position on trade is a critical element of this strategy, underpinning our approach to defending against unfair practices and global overcapacity. We are prioritising developing robust measures in light of the UK steel safeguard expiring in June 2026 to protect our domestic sector and secure stable and reliable supply chains, and engaging with our partners. We will therefore publish the steel strategy in early 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which measures funded by the nature restoration levy would take agricultural land out of food production.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises that food security is national security and is committed to safeguarding the most productive agricultural land to maintain long-term food production. Farms also play a leading role in protecting nature and delivering environmental benefits, with nature markets an increasingly important source of income for farmers and land managers.
The impact of the Nature Restoration Fund on agricultural land will depend on the individual Environmental Delivery Plan and the conservation measures identified to address the impact of development. Natural England already considers the impact of its activities on agriculture. For example, when designing mitigation measures, the existing Nutrient Mitigation Scheme seeks to avoid the best and most versatile agricultural land. We expect Natural England to apply this approach to Environmental Delivery Plans.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific measures funded by the nature restoration levy will be mandatory for farms.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The conservation measures funded through the Nature Restoration Fund will depend on the specific Environmental Delivery Plan and the nature of the impact which the Environmental Delivery Plan seeks to address.
Natural England will look to collaborate with farmers as conservation measure providers, making use of their knowledge and experience to deliver for nature. It will be for farmers to decide whether to provide conservation measures on their land. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill does not provide Natural England with powers to mandate particular management approaches on farms.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accessibility of funding from the nature restoration levy to (1) environmental and conservation groups and (2) individual farms.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We expect Natural England to deliver conservation measures funded by the Nature Restoration Fund, either directly or indirectly, through a range of organisations including environmental and conservation groups and farmers. At Committee Stage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in the House of Lords, the government committed to publish guidance to Natural England, part of which will focus on the role of the private and third sectors in Environmental Delivery Plan development and delivery. This guidance will follow Royal Assent of the Bill and the passage of related regulations in 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to adopt a fair system of allocation regarding the rolling out of (1) the electric vehicle charging network and (2) the upgrading of electricity grid infrastructure to ensure that urban areas are not prioritised over rural areas.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Government’s £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund allocated capital and resource funding across all higher tier local authorities (LAs) in England, to ensure equitable chargepoint rollout across the country. Funding allocations were determined through an assessment of LA need, including the level of rurality, which meant LAs in rural areas were allocated additional funding compared to urban ones. This builds on rollout to date, with the number of publicly available charging devices in rural areas of England increasing by 45% in 2024.
The Government works with Ofgem to ensure grid investment supports all communities, including remote rural areas. Ofgem has allocated £22 billion for network upgrades under the current electricity distribution price control (2023–2028). The next distribution price control (ED3 for 2028–2033) will require distribution network operators to produce long-term regional network plans, informed by Regional Energy Strategic Plans (RESPs).