Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing pricing guidance to veterinary practices to increase transparency around service costs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Market Authority is conducting a market investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets. Defra will consider any remedies they propose in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 potential impact of the prevalence of corporate veterinary chains on average vet costs.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Market Authority is conducting a market investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets. Defra will consider any remedies they propose in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of average vet costs in (a) London and (b) the rest of the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not completed an assessment of any changes in the average costs for veterinary care. The Competition and Market Authority is conducting a market investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets. Defra will consider any remedies they propose in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department offers to (a) independent and (b) not-for-profit veterinary practices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Veterinary practices are private entities and therefore not directly supported by Defra. The Competition and Market Authority is conducting a market investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets. Defra will consider any remedies they propose in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 conduct a formal review of the regulation of veterinary prices.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Market Authority is conducting a market investigation into the provision of veterinary services for household pets. Defra will consider any remedies they propose in due course.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 invite (a) Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, (b) textile traders, (c) recycling operators and (d) designers to participate in a (i) collaborative pilot and (ii) formal working group on international textile value chains.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy domestically, and support this transition globally, to deliver growth, green jobs, and promote efficient and productive use of resources including in the textiles sector. The UK is modernising its approach to international development, moving from an aid donor to an investor. We want to partner with countries like Ghana to create economic growth and trading opportunities for both our countries.
The UK and Ghana share a long-standing mutual relationship built on trust, openness and partnership, and this is something we will continue to strengthen together.
While the department does not currently have any specific plans to support and co-finance textile recycling and waste infrastructure in Ghana, the UK Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme has mobilised over £125 million in investment across key sectors like garments, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, creating 5,000+ jobs and enabling exports of textiles across Africa and to the UK. Through the JET programme, the UK is supporting Ghana to deliver a Textiles and Garment Policy. The draft policy is currently under public consultation before submission to the Ghanaian cabinet. The policy includes prescriptions for regulatory and other policy incentives to encourage private investment into recycling plants or other investment in support of a circular economy. This aims to enhance public-private partnerships.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to (a) support and (b) co-finance (i) textile recycling and (ii) waste infrastructure in Ghana through (A) UK aid, (B) public–private partnerships and (C) other bilateral arrangements.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy domestically, and support this transition globally, to deliver growth, green jobs, and promote efficient and productive use of resources including in the textiles sector. The UK is modernising its approach to international development, moving from an aid donor to an investor. We want to partner with countries like Ghana to create economic growth and trading opportunities for both our countries.
The UK and Ghana share a long-standing mutual relationship built on trust, openness and partnership, and this is something we will continue to strengthen together.
While the department does not currently have any specific plans to support and co-finance textile recycling and waste infrastructure in Ghana, the UK Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme has mobilised over £125 million in investment across key sectors like garments, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, creating 5,000+ jobs and enabling exports of textiles across Africa and to the UK. Through the JET programme, the UK is supporting Ghana to deliver a Textiles and Garment Policy. The draft policy is currently under public consultation before submission to the Ghanaian cabinet. The policy includes prescriptions for regulatory and other policy incentives to encourage private investment into recycling plants or other investment in support of a circular economy. This aims to enhance public-private partnerships.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the implementation of the Automatic-sorting for Circularity in Textiles UK pilot; what funding he has provided to that pilot; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that materials processed through that scheme are retained for domestic reprocessing.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total cost of the Autosort for Circular Textiles Innovation Demonstrator was £4,128,228, with nearly £1.5 million of funding provided by industry and private investors.
One of the project’s aims was to ensure that the processed material was retained through domestic reprocessing. UK Fashion and Textile served as the lead partner, with supporting the UK textile manufacturing sector as one of their key objectives.
In addition, Innovate UK provided robust monitoring throughout the project to ensure it remained within its original scope, which we can confirm it did.
Although the funding phase has concluded, we continue to support this project and its partners to generate economic value that can be retained within the UK.
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn. The Circular Economy Taskforce will initially focus on six sectors that have the greatest potential to grow the economy: textiles; agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; and transport. The Circular Economy Taskforce will assess what interventions may be needed across the textiles sector.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) compliance measures and (b) enforcement mechanisms he is developing to ensure (i) producer, (ii) sorter and (iii) exporter adherence to the (A) transparency and (B) traceability requirements of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.
The Circular Economy Taskforce will initially focus on six sectors that have the greatest potential to grow the economy: textiles; agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; and transport.
The Taskforce has been extensively engaging with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and insights of all involved.
As we develop the strategy, we will consider the evidence for action right across the economy, and alongside The Circular Economy Taskforce we will assess what interventions may be needed across the textiles sector. The Taskforce will consider evidence across a range of interventions.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
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 have discussions with Ghanaian (a) public, (b) private and (c) civil society stakeholders in advance of implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for textiles.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. The Government has convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help develop the first ever Circular Economy Strategy for England, which we plan to publish for consultation in the coming autumn.
The Circular Economy Taskforce will initially focus on six sectors that have the greatest potential to grow the economy: textiles; agri-food; built environment; chemicals and plastics; electrical and electronic equipment; and transport.
The Taskforce has been extensively engaging with industry leaders, trade associations, and other key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy reflects the needs and insights of all involved.
As we develop the strategy, we will consider the evidence for action right across the economy, and alongside The Circular Economy Taskforce we will assess what interventions may be needed across the textiles sector. The Taskforce will consider evidence across a range of interventions.