Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the challenges faced by local authorities to properly dispose of disposable vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Earlier this year, Defra published a report outlining the environmental concerns of disposable vapes. These products are an inefficient use of resources, are frequently disposed of incorrectly, can be harmful when littered and are difficult and costly to recycle. That is why on 29 January the Government confirmed that we would introduce a ban on single-use vapes. Draft regulations for the ban were published on 11 March with a proposed coming into force date of 1 April 2025 pending parliamentary procedures.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to provide local authorities with details of (a) transitional and (b) operational funding provided by his Department for new food waste requirements.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have brought forward up to £295 million in capital funding to roll out weekly food waste collections across England. This will cover the cost of additional bins and vehicles. Initial grants have now been issued to local authorities for their transitional capital funding allocation for FY 2023/24. We are still calculating resource funding allocations and are therefore unable to share details of funding at this time. We will be in contact with local authorities regarding this funding when we are able to do so.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support Local Authorities with the (a) collection and (b) disposal of disposable vapes.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Changes are currently underway to the Producer Balancing System (PBS) under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations to ensure the costs of treating waste disposable vapes that arise at local authority waste sites are apportioned equitably amongst vape producers. The PBS also provides a guarantee to local authorities that all the waste arising at their sites, including disposable vape waste, will be collected.
On 28 December 2023, we published a consultation on reviewing the WEEE Regulations to ensure that we drive up levels of separately collected WEEE, including vapes, and that the costs of recycling are met fairly by manufacturers, importers and distributors of electrical equipment.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to commence the measures in the Environment Act 2021 on the collection of food waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has consulted on measures included in the Environment Act 2021 to increase consistency in recycling, including commencement dates for the requirements under the Act for the mandatory collection of food waste from all households and businesses in England. Further details will be announced within the response to this consultation, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has produced guidance for local councils on the disposal of illegal vapes once seized by trading standards.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency provides guidance on a wide variety of waste management requirements, including on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and chemicals. Illegal vapes seized by trading standards that are being discarded would be classified as WEEE with associated chemical components and as such should be handled in line with existing guidance on WEEE and chemical waste management. The Environment Agency is working with industry to establish what the best available recycling and recovery techniques are so we can ensure they are treated responsibly.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
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 a recent assessment of whether animal testing is needed in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Home Office Regulator will only grant licences to use animals in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government is supporting and accelerating advances in biomedical science and technologies to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. UK Research and Innovation provides core funding for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of new methodologies, including alternatives to animals.
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by UKRI.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to end animal testing in the UK.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Home Office Regulator will only grant licences to use animals in science where there are no alternatives, where the number of animals used is the minimum needed to achieve the scientific benefit, and where the potential harm to animals is limited to that needed to achieve the scientific benefit.
The Government is supporting and accelerating advances in biomedical science and technologies to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. UK Research and Innovation provides core funding for the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement, and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of new methodologies, including alternatives to animals.
The Government is committed to the development of alternatives to using animals in scientific procedures and continues to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) for the use of animals in scientific procedures. This is achieved through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s funding of the National Centre for the 3Rs, which works nationally and internationally to drive the uptake of non-animal technologies, and through research into the development of alternatives by UKRI.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of supermarket brand protections on the redistribution of surplus food; and what discussions she has had with the representatives of the supermarket sector on eliminating food waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £2.6m this year to combat food waste through funding the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). This includes engagement across the supply chain, including supermarkets, through the Courtauld 2030 Commitment. Courtauld 2030 is a voluntary agreement and includes a target of a 50% per capita food waste reduction by 2030 against a 2007 baseline. Courtauld signatories take action to prevent food waste in their own operations as well as magnifying campaign messages to help citizens waste less such as those developed for Food Waste Action Week.
We continue to support WRAP’s work with the redistribution sector, which includes the provision of best practice guidance and knowledge sharing across the sector. The Courtauld Redistribution Working Group identified retailer brand labels as a priority barrier to redistribution, and in 2021 WRAP published new ‘Best practice on redistributing own label products in the supply chain’. The guide identifies how a more consistent approach can be taken to the redistribution of surplus retailer own-label food. This will result in more food being made available for redistribution in a timely manner, while making sure brand integrity and product safety are protected. Surplus Food Redistribution Resource Hub | WRAP.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of brand protections on food waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is investing £2.6m this year to combat food waste through funding the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). This includes engagement across the supply chain, including supermarkets, through the Courtauld 2030 Commitment. Courtauld 2030 is a voluntary agreement and includes a target of a 50% per capita food waste reduction by 2030 against a 2007 baseline. Courtauld signatories take action to prevent food waste in their own operations as well as magnifying campaign messages to help citizens waste less such as those developed for Food Waste Action Week.
We continue to support WRAP’s work with the redistribution sector, which includes the provision of best practice guidance and knowledge sharing across the sector. The Courtauld Redistribution Working Group identified retailer brand labels as a priority barrier to redistribution, and in 2021 WRAP published new ‘Best practice on redistributing own label products in the supply chain’. The guide identifies how a more consistent approach can be taken to the redistribution of surplus retailer own-label food. This will result in more food being made available for redistribution in a timely manner, while making sure brand integrity and product safety are protected. Surplus Food Redistribution Resource Hub | WRAP.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of fireworks on (a) domestic pets and (b) livestock.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Defra understands concerns about the distress fireworks can cause to domestic pets and livestock. Our assessment is that noisy fireworks have the capacity to cause distress to pets, livestock and wildlife. This is one of the reasons that there is a noise level limit of 120 decibels on fireworks for home use.
It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to cause an animal any unnecessary suffering and this includes through the misuse of fireworks. The Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act came into force on 29 June 2021 and has increased the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals to five years’ imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine.
The Government also publishes a statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs, which applies to all owners/keepers of dogs and which encourages dog owners/keepers to avoid exercising dogs in extreme weather or during times when fireworks could be let off. Further advice about pets and fireworks can be found on the Blue Cross website, here: https://www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/fireworks-and-pets
Fireworks should not be set off near livestock or close to buildings that house livestock, or near to horses in fields. Anyone planning a firework display in rural areas should warn neighbouring farmers.
Fireworks used for professionally organised displays, classified as F4, are available for sale only to people who have undertaken an accredited course of training in pyrotechnics and who hold relevant professional insurance. It is up to local councils to decide whether or not to put on public displays.
We would encourage livestock owners who are concerned about planned firework displays to contact the organisers to see if any compromises can be made, such as using less noisy fireworks.