Lord Hanningfield

Her Majesty’s Government congratulates Her Majesty the Queen on this historic milestone and wishes her many more happy years as Head of State. In line with Her Majesty the Queen’s wishes, there were no official events to mark the occasion.

Tobacco packaging is covered by the current producer responsibility regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. They will also be subject to the forthcoming extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging which will cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter, expected to be introduced in 2023.

In the Resources and Waste Strategy, we committed to looking into and consulting on extended producer responsibility for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste, and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority.

The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products.

It is the Government’s ambition to use the opportunity of leaving the EU to refresh and renew our environmental policy. An assessment of the legislative work required to transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive is currently being undertaken.

Tobacco packaging is covered by the current producer responsibility regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. They will also be subject to the forthcoming extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging which will cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter, expected to be introduced in 2023.

In the Resources and Waste Strategy, we committed to looking into and consulting on extended producer responsibility for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste, and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority.

The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products.

It is the Government’s ambition to use the opportunity of leaving the EU to refresh and renew our environmental policy. An assessment of the legislative work required to transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive is currently being undertaken.

The Government has made no specific assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. The most recent National Litter Survey for England found that 79% of sites surveyed had smoking-related litter present in 2017-18. In the same year, local authorities in England spent £663 million or £28 per household to keep our streets clean, though this does not include spending by other relevant bodies and it is not currently possible to specify how much of this figure is attributable to smoking-related litter.

We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturer’s Association (TMA) to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations.

The tobacco industry has not made, or been invited to make, any financial contribution towards delivery of the “Keep It, Bin It” anti-litter campaign. Ministers have met twice with the TMA in the last three years, but the Government has not held discussions with any individual tobacco companies about smoking-related litter.

The Government has made no specific assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. The most recent National Litter Survey for England found that 79% of sites surveyed had smoking-related litter present in 2017-18. In the same year, local authorities in England spent £663 million or £28 per household to keep our streets clean, though this does not include spending by other relevant bodies and it is not currently possible to specify how much of this figure is attributable to smoking-related litter.

We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturer’s Association (TMA) to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations.

The tobacco industry has not made, or been invited to make, any financial contribution towards delivery of the “Keep It, Bin It” anti-litter campaign. Ministers have met twice with the TMA in the last three years, but the Government has not held discussions with any individual tobacco companies about smoking-related litter.

The Government has made no specific assessment of the UK tobacco industry’s contribution to tackling smoking-related litter. The most recent National Litter Survey for England found that 79% of sites surveyed had smoking-related litter present in 2017-18. In the same year, local authorities in England spent £663 million or £28 per household to keep our streets clean, though this does not include spending by other relevant bodies and it is not currently possible to specify how much of this figure is attributable to smoking-related litter.

We would like to see the tobacco industry delivering on the commitment given by the Tobacco Manufacturer’s Association (TMA) to tackle the litter created by its products and their users, but this must be achieved without breaching the UK’s international obligations.

The tobacco industry has not made, or been invited to make, any financial contribution towards delivery of the “Keep It, Bin It” anti-litter campaign. Ministers have met twice with the TMA in the last three years, but the Government has not held discussions with any individual tobacco companies about smoking-related litter.

In July 2014, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the next steps for delivering a new Lower Thames crossing. It is vital that the right location is chosen, which is why the final two options, Options A and C, are being assessed in detail. Work led by Highways England is currently underway to determine where and how best to tie in a new crossing to the existing road network. This work is expected to lead to public consultation on a proposed solution in late 2015 or early 2016.

We do not envisage any changes to plans for the Norwich – Liverpool line.

This remains an operational matter for public transport operators to decide on.　 There are already good practice examples within the industry such as Southern’s Priority Seat Card which can be shown to fellow passengers who are sitting in a priority seat. This will indicate that the passenger using the card has been recognised by Southern as needing a priority seat. The Government is keen to encourage further uptake of these schemes. It remains the responsibility of train operators and their staff to assist priority passengers to obtain a seat and direct other passengers occupying seats accordingly.

Loneliness is a complex problem and affects people in many different ways and it can have a severe impact on people’s mental wellbeing. The reasons why people become socially isolated are diverse and a range of approaches may be needed to address these. In providing advice or support to people who are lonely or depressed local authorities could suggest interaction with pets but this will depend on the individual and the reasons behind their condition.

As announced at Budget 2018, from April 2022 the government will be introducing a new tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic.

In spring 2019, the government consulted on the high level design of the tax and a summary of responses was published in July. These responses are being used to inform the detailed design of the tax including the definition of packaging, which will be included in legislation that is due to be introduced next year. Where tobacco product packaging, cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and other vaping related products meet the definition of plastic packaging, and contain insufficient recycled plastic, they will be subject to the tax.

The government has made no specific assessment of the impact of litter caused by vaping. Litter specifically associated with vaping has never appeared in the top 20 litter types, according to independent national surveys carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.

As announced at Budget 2018, from April 2022 the government will be introducing a new tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic.

In spring 2019, the government consulted on the high level design of the tax and a summary of responses was published in July. These responses are being used to inform the detailed design of the tax including the definition of packaging, which will be included in legislation that is due to be introduced next year. Where tobacco product packaging, cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and other vaping related products meet the definition of plastic packaging, and contain insufficient recycled plastic, they will be subject to the tax.

The government has made no specific assessment of the impact of litter caused by vaping. Litter specifically associated with vaping has never appeared in the top 20 litter types, according to independent national surveys carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.