Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 20 September 2024 to Question 5409 on Recycling and to Question 5225 on Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal, whether it is her policy that the minimum residual frequency for household waste collections should be two weeks.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Simpler Recycling will mean that people across England will be able to recycle the same materials at home, work or school, ending the confusion over what can or cannot be recycled in different parts of the country.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 (a) publish a response to and (b) implement the policies set out in the consultation on statutory litter enforcement guidance that closed in April 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra recognises the role that appropriate and proportionate enforcement can play in helping local authorities keep streets clear of litter. Defra is considering the benefits of bringing forward statutory litter enforcement guidance and any new guidance will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 6 September 2024 to Question 2316 on Equality, whether the socio-economic duty will apply to local authority decisions on the configuration of household waste and recycling collections.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities must comply with all relevant Equalities Act duties and in England this will include the socio-economic duty in due course.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 implement the policies set out in Annex A of the Government response to the consultation on Consistency in household and business recycling in England, updated on 21 November 2023.
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.
By default, the primary legislation requires that the recyclable waste streams are collected in separate containers, unless this is technically or economically impracticable, or provides no significant environmental benefit. Regarding exemptions that were announced in the Simpler Recycling Government response in October 2023 and May 2024: further regulations would be required to implement these exemptions. Ministers are reviewing these policies; we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 limit the number of bins into which councils require householders to separate their rubbish.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to delivering the Collection and Packaging Reforms to the announced timelines, including the Simpler Recycling policy in England, subject to spending review outcomes. Ministers are reviewing final policy positions relating to Simpler Recycling; we hope to provide further certainty and clarity to stakeholders as soon as possible.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 (a) banning and (b) further regulating wood burning stoves in domestic dwellings.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Domestic wood burning stoves make a significant contribution to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions nationally, with implications for the health of everyone exposed to smoke. Defra is currently considering options for action to reduce the impact of wood burning stoves on people’s health and to meet our statutory targets for this pollutant.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 30 August 2024 to Question 1516 on Housing: Gardens, what the timetable is for the review of the effectiveness of all available options to manage unplanned increases in impermeable or hard surfaces and their costs and benefits.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is considering how best to take forward the review of the effectiveness of all available options to manage unplanned increases in impermeable or hard surfaces.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 timetable is for implementing Schedule 3 of the Flood & Water Management Act 2010; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing thresholds at which those measures would be applied to help reduce the potential impact on small-scale developers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is considering how best to implement its ambitions on sustainable drainage.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 her policies on (a) the mitigation credit market and (b) investor confidence in nature markets.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This government was elected on a mandate to get Britain building again, alongside protecting and restoring the natural environment. We are determined to transform the system to ensure a win-win for people and nature.
The existing nutrient mitigation market plays an essential role in enabling housing to go ahead in areas affected by nutrient neutrality without making pollution worse. The Government is continuing to support mitigation provision through Natural England’s Nutrient Mitigation Scheme and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Local Nutrient Mitigation Fund, which work with and alongside private sector providers.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
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 will disapply the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
A healthy natural environment is critical to a strong economy. This government is committed to delivering for nature and will work with stakeholders, including nature conservation organisations, to develop an approach that both restores nature and enables economic growth. We will only legislate where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes.