Plastic-free Packaging (Fruit and Vegetables)

Debate between John McNally and Mark Pawsey

Monday 12th November 2018 Westminster Hall

[John Mc Nally]

Again, the hon. Gentleman makes good points. I assure him that we on the Environmental Audit Committee were warned about becoming the dirty man of Europe once again, and I hope that we will be given a reassurance today that we will not go down that path. I share the hon. Gentleman’s anxieties. We are at a pivotal moment when we can change these things, and the world is with us—probably through the work of the great David Attenborough, who has beautifully highlighted all the problems. I ask the Minister to reassure us that all retailers, rather than just a select few, will be charged accordingly, as happens in all the other home nations.

In 2017, the Scottish Government launched an initiative to develop a fit-for-purpose deposit return scheme to tackle everyday waste problems, such as single-use plastic and single-use items that are disposed of. I praise the UK Government for attending the summit in London in July this year, organised by the Scottish Government, to discuss how the home nations can co-operate to develop deposit return schemes that are fit for purpose, and nudge everyone into better habits when disposing of plastic and single-use items.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

I apologise for arriving late to the debate. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the deposit return scheme involves substantial investment in reverse vending machines, costing upwards of £10,000, £15,000 or even £20,000, and that we would be better off spending that money on improving our recycling infrastructure to get more products recycled, which is what we all want?

[John Mc Nally]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point, and there are two sides to the argument. We have to start somewhere—that is a certainty—and the way we are recycling at the moment is not the best way, which is a point that I hope to touch on later. I know that deposit retail schemes involve some complicated systems, but there may be ways to make them commercially viable that would get more people involved.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Debate between John McNally and Mark Pawsey

Monday 13th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey]

Absolutely. The shift of power from the centre out to the regions is massively important and I will talk about the importance of local enterprise partnerships shortly, but first I want to talk about the impact of combined authorities in my part of the country.

Even though Rugby is right in the middle of the country, under the old regional development agency model we were placed in the west midlands because Warwickshire was put in the west midlands. However, my town’s economic links are much closer to places such as Lutterworth and Leicester in Leicestershire and Daventry and Northampton in Northamptonshire. In so many instances we in Rugby look east rather than west. That is one reason why I have some concerns about the developments in the west midlands. It is entirely right that the urban area of the west midlands—Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton—comes together. I ran a business in Rugby, and we looked at that block of authorities as one big market. In fact we did not know where one authority ended and the other started because to us it was one big market.

[John Mc Nally (Falkirk) (SNP)]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mark Pawsey]

I will carry on, if I may, as other Members wish to speak and I only have a little time left.

It is entirely right that those authorities come together in the midlands engine, but I note that Coventry, a city almost in the centre of Warwickshire and surrounded almost entirely by Warwickshire, wants to join that combined authority. I do not think the people of Warwickshire have made a sufficiently strong case to both the people and local politicians of Coventry for the merits of Coventry remaining within Warwickshire. To take up the comment made by my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Mrs Drummond) about the role of the local enterprise partnership, my local LEP is called the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP. It is a natural economic unit, and I would like more thought to be given to the possibility of Coventry and Warwickshire working together as a combined authority. I say to the people of Coventry—to Coventrians—that it is not too late and there is no automatic reason why Coventry needs to join the west midlands combined authority. One of my selfish reasons for having concerns about that is that if Coventry joins that combined authority, Warwickshire may feel a need to do so, too. I have already explained that my authority’s links are closer to the east midlands than to the west midlands. I hope it is not too late to have a further look at this matter.

All that raises the issue of the role of two-tier authorities within the move to combined authorities. Some challenges for government will emerge where we have a two-tier authority and the upper tier wishes to go in one direction and the lower tier—the district councils—wishes to go in a different one. It is entirely right that both tiers are talking to the emerging west midlands combined authority, but I am keen that in my part of the world, Rugby, we continue to talk also to the districts and counties on our eastern flank, because our relationships with that area are so strong.

I wish to make one or two quick remarks about the changes the Government are making to the planning system. It is entirely right that we make it easier for businesses to grow. Housing development is a very substantial part of economic growth and we want to make it easier for people to build new houses. I am very proud that in my constituency we are doing entirely that, with two substantial housing development sites coming forward.