Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure hospitality businesses are not double charged for the handling of their waste, in the context of the introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging.

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

Under packaging extended producer responsibility, packaging producers are only liable for fees that cover the management of packaging waste collected from households. The regulations therefore make a distinction as to what is "household packaging" and what is not, so as to attribute those costs to producers.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department will publish the revised Environmental Improvement Plan for 2025.

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

The Government has concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23). We published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. Publication of the revised EIP will follow later this year.

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 introduce a digitalised equine ID and traceability system to prevent illegal export of (a) horses, (b) donkeys (c) and ponies.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and of improving equine identification and traceability. We have no current plans to implement mandatory digital identification, but we remain in close touch with the industry to look at potential improvements.

Defra also regularly engages with officials in the devolved governments to discuss matters of equine identification and traceability. Officials also share data on equines located in the UK with the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and with the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the Republic of Ireland. The majority of equine movements into and out of GB take place between the island of Ireland and GB.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made on the potential impact of extended producer responsibility for packaging on the glass industry.

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

Defra officials have engaged extensively with the glass sector in developing these reforms since 2019.

Minister Creagh met with British Glass on 21 October 2024 and attended a glass re-use roundtable hosted by the British Beer & Pub Association on 14 January. Minister Creagh and Minister Jones, Minister of State at the both the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Department of Business and Trade, met British Glass on the 11th February to discuss points raised by the glass sector in detail.

Defra has responded to concerns from the glass sector about the inclusion of glass in the Deposit Return Scheme, it has remained out of scope as a result. Although packaging weight is a key driver of waste management costs, estimated packaging volumes, not packaging weight, are used to calculate kerbside dry recycling collections costs in pEPR to reflect practical limitations with collection systems. This is especially important for heavier materials such as glass, which would otherwise see higher base fees.

Defra continues to monitor the potential impact of EPR fees on the glass industry through continued engagement and extensive analysis of the packaging market.

Ashby Netball Club

Found: Antonia Bance (Labour; Tipton and Wednesbury) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards

Found: Q9 Chair: We have an application from Sarah Edwards, Lizzi Collinge and Freddie van Mierlo for a debate

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Charlie

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Charlie

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Charlie

Found: Antonia Bance (Labour; Tipton and Wednesbury) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison

Found: Resolved, That Antonia Bance, John Cooper, Sarah Edwards and Alison Griffiths, Sonia Kumar, Gregor Poynton

Found: Not called_NC80 Liam Byrne Bell Ribeiro-Addy Matt Western Charlie Maynard Sarah Edwards .

Found: Not called_NC80 Liam Byrne Bell Ribeiro-Addy Matt Western Charlie Maynard Sarah Edwards .