Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the rates for Extended Producer Responsibility fees for more recyclable materials.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The RAM has been used by producers to assess packaging recyclability from January 2025. The RAM is an important aspect of pEPR as it will determine the modulation sub-category, and therefore the level of fees applicable to that material, with higher fees applied to less sustainable packaging.
Fee modulation will begin from year two of the scheme for payments in the 2026/27 financial year, based on 2025 producer data.
We have made a full impact assessment of implementing packaging extended producer responsibility will have which we published when The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 were laid before parliament.
The Government will continue to monitor modulation to ensure fees reward improved recyclability.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of basing the calculation of Extended Producer Responsibility fees on volume.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is not considering the adoption of a units-based metric. In accordance with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, Extender Producer Responsibility disposal fees for packaging are calculated in £ per tonne of household packaging placed on the market. Producers report the packaging they supply on a weight basis, and the costs for managing different material types, such as glass, are apportioned according to relevant cost drivers for their collection and management, including the volume of the container in bins and collection vehicles. This ensures the fair apportionment of costs between material types in line with the regulations.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for the publication of the chalk stream recovery pack.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring our chalk streams to better ecological health must be part of our holistic programme of reforms for the water sector, including:
The Government’s wider agenda to reset the water sector and fix the systemic issues in the water framework, continued investment in actual projects at the catchment level, committing to end damaging abstraction of water from rivers and groundwater, driving home the responsibilities for responsible authorities around protected landscapes, many of which feature chalk streams.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 enable (a) local authorities and (b) the police to effectively (i) target and (ii) prosecute (A) individuals and (B) businesses engaged in illegal fly-tipping on (1) private and (2) public land.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local councils are responsible for taking enforcement action in most fly-tipping incidents. Their powers include issuing fixed penalty notices of up to £1000, prosecution action and seizing vehicles. We encourage councils to make good use of their powers, and we are taking steps to develop statutory fly-tipping enforcement guidance. We have also announced a review of local authority powers to seize and crush the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers, to identify how we could help councils make better use of this tool.
We also committed to forcing fly-tippers to clean up the mess that they have created as part of a crackdown on anti-social behaviour. We will provide further details on this commitment in due course.
Defra continues to chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group through which we work with a wide range of stakeholders such as local authorities and the National Police Chiefs Council to promote good practice with regards to preventing fly-tipping, including on private land. Various practical tools, such as a guidance on how local authorities can present robust cases to court, are available from their webpage at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/national-fly-tipping-prevention-group#.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of (a) Smoke Control Areas and (b) Ecodesign regulations, in the context of the impact of domestic log burners on air quality.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since the introduction of Smoke Control Areas in 1956 emissions from domestic combustion have reduced significantly. However, domestic combustion is a major source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in the UK, and wood stove ownership is increasing.
Whilst we are not required to carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of Smoke Control Areas or Ecodesign regulation we have commissioned reports in both areas.
Kantar prepared a report on Burning in UK Homes and Gardens for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2020. This report included an analysis of burning in Smoke Control Areas, and can be found at Report: Burning in UK homes and gardens (plus a number of annexes) - Defra, UK
Ricardo prepared reports on Emission Factors for Domestic Solid Fuels Project which for Defra in 2024. These include details of emission factors using Ecodesign-compliant stoves compared to other types of stoves. These can be found at WP1 - Report: Emission Factors for Domestic Solid Fuels Project - Work Package 1 Report - Defra, UK and Ricardo report template The final report in this series is due to be published shortly on Air Quality Library - Defra, UK.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 implications for his policies of the conclusions within his Department's Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 Post Implementation Review 2024, published in December 2024; and whether he plans to introduce regulatory requirements and conditions relating to cat breeding.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 (the 2018 Regulations), anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.
The Government is considering the findings of its post-implementation review of the 2018 Regulations and will be outlining more detail on next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 regulate cat breeding.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid licence issued by their local authority. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse, vary or revoke licences.
Defra has been working on a post-implementation review of the Regulations which considers whether the objectives further improve the protections they provide. We are also carefully considering recommendations in the EFRA select committee’s report into pet welfare and abuse and the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on feline breeding, which will be published shortly.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 make an assessment of the potential merits of restricting the use of treble barbed fishhooks in England and Wales.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The use of barbed hooks is currently restricted by several byelaws covering specific fisheries in areas throughout England and Wales. The suitability and need for these restrictions will continue to be monitored and may inform changes if appropriate, however there are currently no plans for a wider assessment to be made.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 review the rules on beaver (a) protection and (b) management.
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.
The Government has no plans to review the rules on beaver protection. Beavers are a protected species under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. Protection makes it an offence to deliberately capture, kill, disturb, or injure beavers, or to damage or destroy their breeding sites or resting places. Protection means a licence is required for certain beaver management actions.
Defra will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions and management in England. Beaver management should follow the 5-step management approach published on GOV.UK. Licensed projects are responsible for managing animals they have released and are also expected to follow the Code for Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations in England. Landowners and managers who may be affected by beaver activity can find further guidance on beaver management, including when a licence might be needed, on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
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 take steps to (a) help encourage and (b) publish a strategy for the reintroduction of beavers into the wild.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We understand the potential benefits that beavers can bring, including through creating wetland habitats and increasing biodiversity. The Government supports species reintroductions where there are clear benefits for nature, people and the environment.
All reintroductions in England are expected to follow the Code for Reintroductions and other Conversations Translocations. We will continue to work with Natural England to develop our approach to beaver reintroductions in England.