Joe Robertson

At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local authorities to tackle litter. Any decisions or updates will be communicated in due course.

At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local authorities to tackle litter. Any decisions or updates will be communicated in due course.

The interim guidance on the consideration of the Environment Act PM2.5 targets in planning decisions aims to provide developers and planning authorities with clarity while Defra develops substantive technical guidance. As it is interim guidance, environmental principles assessments and full equality impact assessments were not required at this stage.

We are considering whether further guidance is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement. Any announcements on this will be made in the usual way.

We are considering whether further guidance is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement. Any announcements on this will be made in the usual way.

No, Defra has not issued guidance on the size of household rubbish and recycling bins. Local authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services.

Through Simpler Recycling, Government is providing the framework in which they do this and ensure that there is consistency in what is collected.

The Government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now. Building on existing and new legal duties, Defra recently published non-statutory guidance on ensuring good waste collection services for households, which includes certain factors local authorities should consider when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained.

We are also working with sector specialists WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to provide additional (non-statutory) guidance on best practice.

No, Defra does not hold this data. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) collect local authority-reported data on dry recyclable and organic waste stream collection models, which is publicly available on WRAP’s local authority data portal.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

The Environment Agency does not specify a colour for wheel lug nuts on its vehicles and does not cosmetically alter them. All wheel nuts on the Environment Agency’s commercial vehicles have plastic wheel nut indicators attached, which act as a safety feature to indicate if any wheel nuts have come lose. These plastic caps are yellow as standard but can be found in green or orange. Very occasionally, the Environment Agency uses red wheel nut indicators to indicate when a wheel has been changed but has not yet been torqued.

All vehicles owned by the Environment Agency have Chapter 8 markings to comply with Department for Transport codes of practice. The Environment Agency logo is also added to owned vehicles; this is regarded as essential for any public serving organisation, particularly for vehicles being used to respond to incidents where the Environment Agency needs a physical presence. The Environment Agency cannot provide a breakdown of the costs of applying chapter 8 markings and logos. The Environment Agency does not have a specific budget allocated solely for vehicle branding.

Local authorities are already legally required to deliver waste collection services to all households in their area. Simpler Recycling in England will go further by mandating weekly food waste collections under the Environment Act 2021. Local authorities have always had flexibility to choose residual waste frequency, depending on local need.

Local authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services. We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling, local authorities may choose to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing best value for money in line with local need. The Government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now.

Defra recently published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained. These include ensuring that there are no disamenity impacts, such as the build-up of odorous waste at the kerbside or an increase in fly-tipping of residual waste. We expect local authorities to monitor any changes to collection frequencies to ensure there are no unintended adverse consequences.

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

A breakdown of how much the Environment Agency spent on its commercial fleet’s maintenance by vehicle type and fuel type in the last three financial years is shown in the table below. This does not include leased vehicles as maintenance costs are included in their monthly costs. Data on ‘non-essential modifications’ is not available.

The Environment Agency does not purchase customised wheel lug nuts. The ratio of staff to road vehicles in the Environment Agency, for the last three financial years, is shown in the below table:

From 1 January 2025, the Producer Responsibility (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, alongside simpler recycling and the deposit return scheme, will deliver transformational change, creating thousands of new jobs, helping communities to clean up their local areas, and stimulating billions of pounds’ worth of investment.

This will require obligated producers to pay the full end of life costs including managing the efficient and effective collection and disposal costs of waste associated with the packaging that they place on the market. That will bring more than £1 billion of investment into local Government waste collections.

The majority of the funding provided from central Government to councils through the Local Government Finance Settlement is un-ringfenced, including funding for waste management. For 2025-26, funding that local authorities receive from the Extended producer responsibility scheme will be additional income that is separate to income received through the local government finance settlement.

The Government will assess the impact of additional pEPR income on the relative needs and resources of individual local authorities, and how we factor it into our measurement of local authority spending power, ahead of the 2026-27 Settlement. We will consult local councils on any expected changes.

Defra does not routinely collect data on the frequency of household residual bin collections by waste collection authorities.

Under section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, there is a duty on local authorities to keep land and highways clear of litter.

We recognise that as recycling services are expanded and improved under Simpler Recycling in England, local authorities may choose to review residual waste services to ensure they are providing the most appropriate service for local circumstances. The government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard.

Defra recently published guidance to ensure that local authorities consider certain factors when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained. These include ensuring that there are no disamenity impacts, such as the build-up of odorous waste at the kerbside or an increase in fly-tipping of residual waste.

No, the department has not outlined a policy relating the use of microchips in household wheelie bins and has not issued guidance to local authorities in relation to this topic.

Defra and the Environment Agency do not routinely collect data on the number of containers required for waste and recycling collections by each waste collection authority.

The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse is already a statutory document, and Local Councils must have regard to it when carrying out their duty to keep relevant land clear of litter and refuse.

Separate guidance on enforcement was published in 2019 and attached to the Code of Practice but is not statutory. Under the previous Government a consultation was run on making this enforcement guidance statutory.

At this stage, the Government has not yet made an assessment of how it can further support local authorities to tackle litter. Any decisions or updates will be communicated in due course.

The department has not produced guidance for local authorities on issuing fixed penalty notices for householders who leave items by the curtilage of their property to be given away and re-used.

The principles of the Regulators’ Code applies, however, to enforcement action local authorities undertake. This states that regulatory activity should be carried out in a way which is proportionate, transparent, accountable and consistent. We are considering whether further guidance is necessary with regards to fly-tipping enforcement.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

Protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. Defra has recently established a Flood Resilience Taskforce which brings together local, regional and national government and organisations including from the voluntary and insurance sectors to improve resilience and preparedness in England.

The role of the EA, Local Authorities and other flood risk management authorities in incident management is set out in the Flood & Water Management Act 2010.

Defra has not assessed the adequacy of international flood defence agencies. It is not the role of Defra to assess the effectiveness of agencies of other countries.

All integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard for 2023/24, meaning that their investment in mental health services increased in line with their overall increase in funding for the year. Information for 2024/25 is expected to become available later this year.

NHS England publishes new waiting time metrics in line with the clinical review of mental health access standards. These are published monthly via the mental health services data set, which delivers robust, comprehensive, nationally consistent, and comparable person-based information for children, young people, and adults who are in contact with mental health services.

This dataset is also used to inform the NHS Mental Health Dashboard and provides transparency in assessing how National Health Service mental health services in England are performing, alongside technical details explaining how mental health services are funded and delivered.

All integrated care boards met the Mental Health Investment Standard for 2023/24, meaning that their investment in mental health services increased in line with their overall increase in funding for the year. Information for 2024/25 is expected to become available later this year.

NHS England publishes new waiting time metrics in line with the clinical review of mental health access standards. These are published monthly via the mental health services data set, which delivers robust, comprehensive, nationally consistent, and comparable person-based information for children, young people, and adults who are in contact with mental health services.

This dataset is also used to inform the NHS Mental Health Dashboard and provides transparency in assessing how National Health Service mental health services in England are performing, alongside technical details explaining how mental health services are funded and delivered.

Waiting lists for those referred for support are too high all across England, especially in areas with fewer mental health services, including for those in rural communities. People with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they deserve or need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health, so that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.

In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission. It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.