Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase biodiversity in the West Midlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Improving biodiversity is a key objective for the Government, and we are taking action to deliver on our legally binding biodiversity targets on species abundance, species extinction, and habitat creation and restoration.
These targets, alongside other statutory targets on tree canopy and woodland cover, water and air quality, marine protected areas, and resource efficiency, will drive action for nature recovery.
The West Midlands Combined Authority is the responsible authority for preparing the West Midlands Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which will agree priorities for nature recovery in the area and identify and map the best locations for action to be taken to benefit nature and the wider environment. Defra has provided funding to responsible authorities to prepare their strategies, as well as dedicated advice and support from Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Forestry Commission.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take with local authorities to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in public parks.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering problems, as their response can be tailored to the local community. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal including fixed penalty notices and prosecution. We are reviewing how we can further support local authorities to tackle these issues.
We have also taken steps to tackle commonly littered plastic items such as disposable vapes. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025. This will help to tackle a huge and growing stream of hard-to-recycle waste and litter, with nearly 5 million thrown away every week.
Plastic drinks containers are also covered as part of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when the empty container is returned. This will reduce litter, increase recycling rates, create high quality recyclate for producers, and promote a circular economy.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the recycling rates in Birmingham in 2022-23.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting for Birmingham City Council in 2022-23 was 22.9 per cent.
Waste and recycling statistics including household recycling rates are published annually for all local authorities in England here.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support research on (a) the effect of climate change on nature and (b) the carbon capture potential of woodland; and if he will hold discussions with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research on the implications for his policies of research on carried out in the northern hemisphere’s largest Free-Air CO2 Enrichment facility.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 19 January 2022 to PQ 101646 and PQ 101647.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support research on (a) the effect of climate change on nature and (b) the carbon capture potential of woodland; and if he will hold discussions with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research on the implications for his policies of research on the rate of photosynthesis in mature woodland exposed to artificially raised levels of CO2.
Answered by Jo Churchill
I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave on 19 January 2022 to PQ 101646 and PQ 101647.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support research on (a) the effect of climate change on nature and (b) the carbon capture potential of woodland; and if he will hold discussions with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research on the implications for his policies of research carried out in the northern hemisphere’s largest free-air CO2 enrichment facility.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The environment is facing unprecedented challenges, including climate change, and we recognise the importance of building resilience to these challenges. Climate change increases risks such as from pests, diseases and wildfires, and is likely to influence long term changes to habitat conditions. We are working to ensure that climate risks are embedded and addressed across government policy, including in our approach to nature protection and restoration, culminating in our third National Adaptation Programme due for publication in early 2023.
Defra funds relevant research through their Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs) including Forest Research (an Agency of the Forestry Commission) and Natural England, as well as engageing with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in identifying themes for research council spend, such as the current TreeScapes programme. We are also directly funding 3 projects this financial year (2021/22):
Furthermore, Defra is also overseeing a large Nature Based Solutions project designed to research and monitor the potential for diverse habitats to sequester carbon which is being led by Natural England.
Defra are supporting the work of the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR) via Forest Research (FR) who are a project collaborator. We will consider opportunities for increased collaboration between FR, BiFor and Defra - including to discuss policy implications of the work BiFor are doing.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
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 hold discussions with the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research on the implications for his policies of research on the rate of photosynthesis in mature woodland exposed to artificially raised levels of CO2.
Answered by Jo Churchill
There is already good engagement between BiFoR and my Department via Forest Research (an Agency of Defra), through BiFOR chairmanship of The Trees and Woodlands Scientific Advisory Group (TAW-SAG) and links with the Plant Health Policy Team. We recognise that there are opportunities for closer cooperation between BiFor, FR and Defra and we will consider how best to achieve that, including opportunities to discuss policy implications of the work BiFor are doing.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to increase the use of biodegradable plastic which can naturally biodegrade.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
While biodegradable materials may be seen as a solution to reduce the impact of waste, they can also be more environmentally damaging than non-biodegradable materials if disposed of incorrectly. The Government is also concerned that, in the absence of robust standards, claims about the biodegradability of plastic-based products cannot be verified.
In order to consider impacts carefully, Defra and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published a call for evidence to help us consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics, and to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. We are currently analysing responses to the call for evidence with a view to publication of a government response shortly.
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the recycling rates in Birmingham in 2019-20.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Recycling rates for 2019/20 for local authorities in England are not yet available. Reporting of waste and recycling data for local authorities in England for the year 2019/20 was delayed due to Covid-19.
Recycling rates for 2019/20 will be published on 3 March 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/local-authority-collected-waste-management-for-england-for-201920)
The most recent publication of waste statistics shows that the recycling rate for Birmingham in 2018/19 was 22.0%
Asked by: Andrew Mitchell (Conservative - Sutton Coldfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in public parks.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. We are making great strides to tackle plastic pollution. In December 2018 we published the Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how we want to achieve this and move towards a circular economy. We know more needs to be done, and for the most problematic plastics we are going faster, which is why we have committed to work towards all plastic packaging on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
We have made significant progress, by introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and have significantly reduced the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarket retailers by 95% with our 5p charge. We have announced our plans to increase the minimum charge to 10p and to extend the charge to all retailers later this year. In October 2020, we introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products, including problematic packaging materials.
As the hon. Member will be aware, it is an offence to drop litter (including in public parks), and councils have legal powers to take enforcement action against offenders. Anyone caught littering may be prosecuted in a magistrates’ court, which can lead to a criminal record and a fine of up to £2,500 on conviction.
Instead of prosecuting, councils may decide to issue a fixed penalty (on-the-spot fine) of between £65 and £150.
With regards to improving enforcement, we are seeking powers in the Environment Bill to ensure that enforcement powers are used with a high degree of professionalism, whether by council staff or private contractors, and to place our improved enforcement guidance on a firm statutory footing, giving those to which it applies a clear and explicit duty to have regard to it when exercising their enforcement functions.
We also continue to campaign to raise awareness of littering issues in public spaces. Last summer, in response to Covid-19, Defra developed a ‘Respect the Outdoors’ campaign to encourage people to follow the Countryside Code and to highlight the impacts of littering. This was promoted both online and in locations across the country near to urban parks, beaches and national parks. We also supported, and provided funding for, Keep Britain Tidy’s Love Parks campaign, which encouraged people to treat our parks with respect.
Preliminary evaluation of these campaigns indicated that they had a positive influence on the target audience’s intended disposal of PPE litter, with anecdotal reports from local authorities that the intervention resulted in a markedly beneficial outcome.