Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 work with rural communities to tackle fly-tipping.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Fly-tipping is a crime which affects all of society, including rural communities and private landowners, and we are committed to tacking this unacceptable behaviour
We appreciate the difficulty and cost that fly-tipping poses to landowners and we work with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), such as the National Farmers Union, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Countryside Alliance and the Countryside Landowners Association, to promote and disseminate good practice, including advice on how to prevent fly-tipping on private land which can be found at: NFTPGAdviceforLandowners.pdf (tacklingflytipping.com)
We are also working with the NFTPG to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities, landowners and others work in partnership to tackle this crime.
We expect local authorities to investigate all incidents of fly-tipping, including those on private land; prosecuting fly-tippers when there is sufficient evidence and recovering investigation, enforcement and clearance costs where possible
Budget 2020 allocated up to £2 million to support innovative solutions to tackle fly-tipping. In April 2021 we commissioned a research project considering the drivers, deterrents and impacts of fly-tipping tipping, which will include consideration of rural areas. This research project is due to be completed before the end of this year and will support informed policy making. We are exploring additional funding opportunities and priorities, including considering the role of digital solutions.
We are taking forward the commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are currently working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. We also intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. Digital records of waste movements will allow regulators to detect when waste does not reach the next stage, which may help to identify illegal activity including fly-tipping.
The Environment Bill will help us to use our resources more efficiently and reduce the amount of waste we produce. It will enable us to fundamentally change the way we use resources, including increasing rates of recycling and making the products we use every day more durable and easier to recycle.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 tackle fly tipping in (a) Bromsgrove District and (b) other semi-rural communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Fly-tipping is a crime which blights local communities and the environment, and we are committed to tackling this unacceptable behaviour. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action by providing a clear legal framework of rights, responsibilities and powers and setting national standards. We continue to work with partners to tackle this crime. In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy set out our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime. We committed to strengthen sentences for fly-tipping and to develop a fly-tipping toolkit to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle this crime. We also committed to increasing penalties for fly-tipping in our manifesto.
Budget 2020 allocated up to £2million to support innovative solutions to tackle fly-tipping. We are exploring funding opportunities and priorities at this stage, including considering the role of digital solutions and supporting research into the drivers, deterrents, and impacts of fly-tipping in urban, suburban and rural areas.
We are also preparing a number of legislative reforms to tackle waste crime, which will help to tackle fly-tipping. We are taking forward the commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker, and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. We also intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and to reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.
The Environment Bill also includes several measures to help tackle waste crime. The Bill will ensure agencies and authorities can work more effectively to combat waste crime through better access to evidence and improved powers of entry. These new powers will help ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
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 farmers in (a) Worcestershire and (b) the UK.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
Defra is taking steps to support farmers throughout the UK, including Worcestershire, by introducing schemes using powers in the Agriculture Bill. This Bill will allow us to introduce ambitious new schemes in England, based on the principle of "public money for public goods", so that we can reward farmers and land managers who protect our environment, improve animal welfare and produce high quality food in a more sustainable way.
The Bill helps farmers to stay competitive with measures to increase productivity and invest in new technology. We will also improve transparency in the supply chain to help food producers strengthen their position at the farm gate and seek a fairer return from the marketplace. The Bill also provides the legislative framework necessary to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. Farmers and land managers will be supported over a seven-year agricultural transition period, giving them time to plan and adapt to the new approach.
The Government appreciates that the food and farming sectors are currently facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and is grateful for the hard work farmers have done to maintain food supplies. In response to the pandemic, we introduced a range of measures to support the agriculture sector, including farmers and agricultural businesses in Worcestershire. These included: easements to competition law to help producers get food where it was needed; a dairy support scheme; support for various AHDB promotional campaigns and the opening of intervention and storage aid schemes for various products. Employees in the food sector were also designated as key workers and there has been a temporary relaxing of the normal rules on drivers' hours, enabling the sector to keep supply chains running, including deliveries from farm gate to processors. Farmers have also, where eligible, been able to apply for public support through the various Covid-19 related Government schemes including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, business rates relief, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. On 24 September, the Government announced an extension to its access to finance schemes to 30 November 2020 for new applicants and introduced ‘Pay as you Grow’ options for Bounce Back Loan borrowers, who will be offered more time and greater flexibility for their repayments.
In June we announced a package of trade support for food and drink exporters. This joint Defra and Department for International Trade package of short-term practical measures will support businesses to get their products back in front of international buyers and grow their exports. More information can be found on the GOV.UK website: www.gov.uk/government/news/bounce-back-plan-for-agriculture-food-and-drink-industry-launched.
Asked by: Sajid Javid (Conservative - Bromsgrove)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many direct-to-doorstep food parcel deliveries have been completed for people on the NHS Shielded Patient List in Worcestershire due to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Prentis
As of 17 May 2020, 9,977 food parcels have been delivered to clinically vulnerable people who have requested food support in Worcestershire.
For information, this covers delivery outcome codes 1 and 2. These codes refer to a box successfully delivered to the individual, or delivered and left on the doorstep.