Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Environment Agency is investigating a large-scale illegal waste crime site in Wigan, as reported by Sky News on 28 October; whether it was on the list of six sites provided to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee; and, if not, why not.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is undertaking operations in response to an illegal waste site located at Bolton House Road, Wigan. These operations consist of two key components. The first is a complex criminal investigation involving multiple lines of enquiry. The second is a coordinated multi-agency effort, working alongside Wigan Council, Greater Manchester Police, and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, to assist in the development of a plan for the removal of the waste—subject to the identification of funding. The EA remains committed to collaborating with partners to safeguard the environment and protect the wellbeing and livelihoods of residents and workers affected by the site. Due to its smaller size and lower volume of waste compared to the site at Hoads Wood, the Bolton House Road site did not meet the criteria for inclusion on the list sent to the Committee.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government which local authorities require residents to sort their rubbish into seven different bins.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
We do not require local authorities to submit this information to central Government as a standard requirement. Local authorities vary their collection arrangements in line with local decisions. Information on the number of bins or containers offered to residents for recycling collections is publicly available on each local authority website.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what financial resources they are allocating to anti-littering campaigns in England.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
Defra launched the “Keep it, Bin it” anti-litter campaign in 2018 with Keep Britain Tidy to encourage people to dispose of their litter responsibly. Defra spent over £200,000 on scoping, developing and launching the campaign. Since 2019/20, the campaign has been funded by external partners. Keep Britain Tidy have now made the campaign available to local authorities and landowners for local use.
In response to COVID-19, Defra spent just under £100,000 on the development and launch of the 'Respect the Outdoors' campaign which included messaging about littering among other issues. We also contributed £30,000 for Keep Britain Tidy's Love Parks campaign, which encouraged people to treat our parks with respect.
We have previously provided nearly £1million across 44 councils to help them to purchase new bins, in support of targeted interventions to reduce litter. Across the last two years, our fly-tipping grant scheme has awarded nearly £1.2million to help more than 30 councils tackle the dumping of waste at known hot-spots.
We have also used social media to raise awareness of the impact of litter and to encourage individuals to put their rubbish in the bin or to take it home. The cost of these activities cannot be separated. Likewise, spend on Defra staff cannot be disaggregated.