Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on pubs.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has worked closely with industry, including the brewing and hospitality sectors, throughout development of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR). In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the statement by the British Beer and Pub Association entitled Chaotic new rules that will lead to pubs paying twice for recycling at a cost of £60 million a year - equivalent to 5,000 jobs, published on 11 March 2025, if he will (a) pause the rollout of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and (b) make amendments to the scheme to avoid double-counting glass waste.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We do not intend to pause the rollout. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 came into effect on 1 January 2025, PackUK, the Scheme Administrator has been appointed, and producers have started to accrue scheme costs from the 1 April 2025.
Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. At a roundtable with industry chaired by Minister Creagh on 10 June it was agreed to establish an industry led group to develop approaches to remove dual use packaging that is unlikely to end up in household waste stream from obligation. This work is now underway.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
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 plans to take to support farmers to remain (a) competitive, (b) resilient, and (c) sustainable after the end of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The primary responsibility for being competitive, resilient and sustainable rests with farm businesses themselves. The Sustainable Farming Incentive is an important offer, but it is part of a wider package. We remain committed to investing in environmental land management schemes. We plan to launch the new Higher Tier scheme later this year; Capital Grants will re-open in summer 2025; we continue to move forward with Landscape Recovery; and we are increasing payment rates for Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement holders to recognise their ongoing commitment to delivering environmental outcome.
Funding from the farming budget also supports the provision of advice within the sector. The Farming Advice Service can assist farmers to review what advice and guidance is available to meet their business needs.