Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made recent progress on implementing section 42 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government inherited a broken water system. These systemic issues require a proper reset with a reformed water sector in a new partnership with the Government to bring in the investment that is needed. The Government is committed to using legislation to reform the water sector and will continue to do so where necessary.
The Government recognises that current arrangements of sewer adoption need to be reviewed, which is why private sewerage has been included in the terms of reference of the ongoing review of the water sector, chaired by Sir Jon Cunliffe to recommend reforms to reset the water sector regulatory system.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of the condition of the canal towpath network and (b) potential merits of enabling higher levels of use of the canal towpath network for (i) walking and (ii) cycling.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Use of towpaths by walkers and cyclists is an operational matter for individual navigation authorities, and Government does not have a role in that. However, Defra provides an annual grant of £52.6 million to the Canal and River Trust, which is the largest navigation authority in England and Wales with 2,000 miles of waterways. The Trust reports that towpath user satisfaction in 2023/24 was 91%.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to incentivise councils to increase the range of plastic packaging that can be recycled at the kerbside through the Extended Producer Responsibility.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Simpler Recycling is a reform to the recycling system which means that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school, putting an end to the confusion over what can and cannot be recycled in different parts of the country. By 31 March 2026, local authorities will be required to collect all six recyclable waste streams - metal, plastic, glass, paper/card, food, and garden (where requested) - from all households in England. We will require recyclable plastic film to be collected from households and non-household municipal premises by 31 March 2027.
Extended Producer Responsibility payments will be provided to local authorities for the costs of collecting and managing household packaging waste through efficient and effective services. This includes the collection of additional packaging materials for recycling such as plastic films and flexibles.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the reintroduction of beavers to the wild on meeting targets on halting the decline in species abundance by 2030 as set under the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
No direct assessment of beavers’ impact on the species abundance target has been conducted but we continue to improve our evidence base underpinning the targets more broadly.
However, evidence demonstrates that beavers can boost biodiversity and create and restore wetland habitats. A 2020 evidence review of the interaction between beavers and the natural and human environments found that beaver reintroductions can bring many benefits by helping to restore lost natural ecosystem function. Therefore, beaver reintroductions could contribute to broad ambitions to restore biodiversity, through the restoration of more naturally functioning habitat mosaics, benefitting many species.
Beaver populations in England are currently small, so any positive impact on biodiversity and species abundance will be spatially limited.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department’s policy is on approving permit applications for new waste incinerators.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is responsible for assessing environmental permit applications for new waste incinerators to operate in England and has a duty to assess any application it receives against the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) 2016. If it meets those requirements, the EA must issue a permit.
Under EPR 2016, operators of incinerators must use the best available techniques to minimise emissions and meet strict emission limits. The EA will only grant a permit if it is satisfied that these requirements will be met, and that the proposal would not give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
When the EA receives a permit application for a new incinerator, it carries out a comprehensive impact assessment of emissions from the plant, and it also consults the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for their views on the application.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the rules on beaver (a) reintroduction and (b) management.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Yes, Defra will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions and management in England. Beaver management should follow the 5-step management approach published on Gov.uk. Licenced projects are responsible for managing animals they have released and are also expected to follow the Code for Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations in England. Landowners and managers who may be affected by beaver activity can find further guidance on beaver management, including when a licence might be needed, on Gov.uk.
Asked by: Andrew Cooper (Labour - Mid Cheshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals on extended producer responsibility.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has interpreted that the MP is referring to the ‘Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging’ scheme as part of our packaging reforms. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, which reform the UKs producer responsibility system for packaging, are due to be brought before parliament in autumn this year, with the aim of these regulations coming into force by 1 January 2025.