Rhodes Wildfires: Repatriation of Holidaymakers
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Scriven
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
I am glad that the noble Lord, Lord West of Spithead, lives up to his reputation. The serious points are, first, that the fires in Rhodes are in an area in the centre of the island, and, secondly, that the situation is stabilising. I note what the noble Lord said.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, the editor of Which? has pointed out that, unless the Government give advice not to travel, people who are travelling on airlines such as Ryanair, which is continuing its flights, will have a choice. What would the Minister advise British nationals heading out: either to head to wildfires or to lose all the money they have paid?
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
The noble Lord’s question revolves around travel advice issued by the FCDO, which I mentioned earlier. That is always kept under review.
Fly-tipping
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Scriven
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, I thank the right reverend Prelate for that question. I should point out that the statistics of increases of 4% in the incidence of fly-tipping have to be looked at very carefully, because different local authorities gather these statistics in different ways. It would be useful to examine how these figures look this time next year because the power for local authorities to issue fixed penalty notices came in only in May 2016, so we would like to think there will be some effect on this issue next year. The right reverend Prelate also mentioned landfill tax. I will take careful note of what he said, but as he is aware, this goes into central government.
Lord Scriven (LD)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of Sheffield City Council, where last year there were 12,000 incidences of fly-tipping. That equates to 33 a day, which is replicated in most local authorities across the country. In light of that and of the LGA predicted funding gap of £5.8 billion in three years’ time for local government, will the Government introduce a compulsory bring-back scheme by producers of bulky items, such as mattresses and sofas, to contribute to dealing with the issue of fly-tipping?
The Earl of Courtown
My Lords, the noble Lord raises an interesting point on a bring-back scheme. That happens with some white goods, such as fridges or washing machines, when the company agrees to take back the old ones. The House must be aware that there have been 494,000 enforcement actions over the last year against fly-tipping. Also, we must not forget that, with regard to larger-scale fly-tipping, in the 2015 spending review a further £20 million was made available to fight waste crime.
Pornography
Debate between Earl of Courtown and Lord Scriven
The Earl of Courtown (Con)
My Lords, there have been a number of interruptions. I ask noble Lords to remember that this is a timed debate and we are very close to time, so please keep interruptions to a minimum.