Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 offers (a) paid time off work and (b) other support to employees who become kinship carers.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department does not have a policy which explicitly covers paid time off for staff who become kinship carers, but there are other provisions which may be applicable depending on the individual circumstances. In addition to annual leave and flexitime (if eligible), the following is available:
o an additional five days’ off as paid leave for carers
o an additional five days’ off as paid leave for those with dependents
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 benefits of introducing statutory recycling targets for local authorities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to reducing waste by transitioning to a circular economy. To support the Government in achieving this goal, a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts has been established from across the Government, industry, academia, and civil society to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England.
The taskforce will consider the evidence for sector-specific interventions from right across the economy and will be exploring a wide range of levers to drive circularity.
Local Authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services. We want to provide the framework in which they do this and ensure that there is consistency in what is collected.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 merits of a variable rate of deposit for the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) regulations provide the powers for the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) - who will be appointed by Government to administer the DRS. The regulations also set out what the DMO must consider and who they must consult in determining the deposit level, including whether a fixed or variable rate deposit is appropriate and, when doing so, have regard to the views expressed in responses to the consultation.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 divergence between (a) UK and (b) EU regulations on products in contact with drinking water; and whether he is taking steps to help with additional compliance costs for companies supplying the UK market.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our drinking water regulations and approved regulator specifications are designed, in part, to protect human health by reducing the likelihood of contamination of drinking water supplies.
Our current Regulations allow certain other national specifications to be accepted by water undertakers, if they can demonstrate an equivalent level of protection and performance with our drinking water standards.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 EU's revised Drinking Water Directive on UK manufacturers of water-related products; and what steps he is taking to support businesses to meet the new compliance requirements.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Our drinking water regulations and approved regulator specifications are designed, in part, to protect human health by reducing the likelihood of contamination of drinking water supplies.
Our current Regulations allow certain other national specifications to be accepted by water undertakers, if they can demonstrate an equivalent level of protection and performance with our drinking water standards.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his (a) plans and (b) priorities are for tackling animal cruelty (i) in the UK and (ii) abroad.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. We will be outlining more detail in due course.
Asked by: Chris Bloore (Labour - Redditch)
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 ensure that proposed increases to consumer water bills are used for infrastructure investment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
After writing to Ofwat, the Secretary of State has secured agreement that funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced and can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. If that money is not spent, it will be refunded to customers – not diverted for bonuses, shareholder payouts or salary increases.