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 direct funding from fees through the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme towards recycling (a) infrastructure and (b) awareness campaigns.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

pEPR makes packaging producers responsible for the costs incurred by UK Local Authorities in managing household packaging waste, including the fees they pay to recycling facilities. This will provide around 1.5 billion pounds of new funding in the UK in 2025-26, including 1.1 billion in England. This funding will underpin the Simpler Recycling reforms in England and stimulate investment in associated recycling infrastructure. The scheme administrator, PackUK, is also obliged to provide information to the public and to businesses concerning packaging re-use, recycling, recovery, and disposal, as well as the prevention of packaging litter. The cost of providing this information is covered by producer fees.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered implementing a licencing regime similar to the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence to help clarify the (a) rights and (b) responsibilities of developers of geothermal energy.

Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is considering various indirect support measures for the development of geothermal energy including regulatory approaches. However, a specific licensing regime like the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence has not been established in the UK, and at this time the Government is not currently considering implementing a licencing regime for geothermal energy.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not continuing the Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund beyond March 2025 on eligible adoptive families and special guardianship order families.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Camborne and Redruth, to the answer of 12 March 2025 to Question 35389.