Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how her Department plans to monitor implementation of the guidance set out in the Code of Practice on the use of snares; and when her Department plans to review or revise that code.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government welcomes the Code of Practice, which has been developed and is owned by game keeping and land management organisations. Defra will continue to work with those organisations to promote effective implementation of the Code.
There are no immediate plans to review implementation of the Code but we will keep this under review.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to maintain protection for coastal towns from the sea dumping of waste after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The UK’s Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (MCAA) includes a marine licensing regime, under Part 4, for most marine activities. The Act regulates dumping of waste at sea including navigational dredging and disposal under the Waste Framework Directive.
The Prime Minister has announced a Repeal Bill to convert EU law into domestic British law, to provide certainty for consumers, workers and businesses by maintaining existing laws.
As domestic legislation the MCAA will continue to be in place when the UK has left the EU. There is no current intention to change the regulatory framework in respect of the dumping of waste in the marine environment.
In Scotland this is covered by the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to work with the Mayor of London to improve air quality in London.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The National Air Quality Plan for nitrogen dioxide, published in December last year, sets out a comprehensive approach for meeting the air quality challenges by implementing a new programme of Clean Air Zones, along with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone in London. The Plan combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles.
The Government has committed over £2 billion since 2011 to increase the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, support green transport initiatives and support local authorities to take action.
The Mayor is responsible for air quality standards in London. The Mayor provides the framework and guidance which London boroughs use to review and improve air quality within their areas. The new Mayor recently set out his plans to improve air quality in London.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to meet the target of reaching a national recycling rate of 50 per cent by 2020.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% at the turn of the century, to 44.9% now. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of Local Authorities and householders.
The Government is committed to meeting the 2020 EU recycling target of 50% of household waste.
Local Authorities are best placed to determine the most appropriate waste collection and recycling services in their areas and we work with them and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to promote best practice.
I have asked WRAP to look at what further measures can be taken to improve recycling rates and, in particular, the benefits and opportunities there are from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems, to enable Local Authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin.