Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 is taking to reduce the amount of plastic packaging produced in the UK.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing the use of single use plastic packaging produced in the UK is a key ambition of this Government. In December 2018, the UK Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy. This sets out how we will achieve a circular economy for plastic and achieve our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042. Our goal is to maximise resource efficiency and minimise waste (including plastic) - by following the principles of the waste hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. To help us achieve this goal, in October 2023, Defra banned the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and banned the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and expanded and foamed extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, including cups.
The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations have also committed to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. This will make producers of packaging, responsible for the costs of collecting and managing packaging when it becomes waste. This will encourage businesses to think carefully about how much packaging they use, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and to use reusable packaging. In using more easily recyclable and reuseable packaging, producers will pay less.
To tackle the use of virgin plastics, the Government brought in the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, a tax of over £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. We have since increased the tax to £217.85 per tonne and will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 of the adequacy of funding available to highway authorities to carry out statutory duties on public rights of way.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 makes available up to £64.7 billion, an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £4.5 billion or 7.5% in cash terms on 2023-24. This is an above inflation increase.
Local highway authorities themselves are best placed to understand local priorities and allocate funding accordingly to fulfil their statutory rights of way duties.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department sought external legal advice on the proposal by MVV Environment to build a new incinerator in his constituency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Defra has not sought legal advice with regard to the proposal for a waste incineration facility operated by MVV Environment in North East Cambridgeshire
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he sought legal advice on the MVV Environment incinerator proposal in his constituency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In my capacity as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I have not sought legal advice on the MVV Environment facility proposed in North East Cambridgeshire
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he had discussions with the planning inspectorate on MVV Environment incinerator proposals in his constituency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I have not made representations to the planning inspectorate.
In my capacity as the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire, I have made a number of representations to the Planning Inspectorate. This includes representations made on: 29 July 2022; 06 October 2022; 09 March 2023; 24 March 2023; 02 February 2024; and 13 February 2024.
These representations are a matter of the public record and can be found on the Planning Inspectorate’s website: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010110
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on what date he recused himself from the decision-making process for the proposed MVV Environment incinerator construction in his constituency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 27 February 2024, following advice from the Permanent Secretary, I formally recused myself from any decisions relating to incinerator policy. I put in place with the Permanent Secretary a formal recusal process which means I have no involvement in any decisions or sight of advice related to incinerator policy. All decisions on this policy will be taken by a junior Minister in the department who has no relevant interest.
As I stated at the EFRA Select Committee on 26 March 2024, I had previously flagged my constituency interest, and had said the policy needed to be delegated to another minister, recognising the importance of the Ministerial Code in terms of conflicts of interests, and also the perception of any conflicts of interest. As soon as I was notified by the Permanent Secretary of the need to formally recuse myself, that is exactly what I did.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on MVV Environment's proposals for an energy from waste plant in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In my capacity as the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire, I met with former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my Rt. Hon friend, Thérèse Coffey, Defra officials and an Environment Agency official on 19 July 2023 to discuss the proposal for a waste incineration facility in North East Cambridgeshire.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish all correspondence he has exchanged with the Environment Agency relating to MVV Environment's proposals for an energy from waste plant to be built in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In my capacity as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I have had no correspondence with the Environment Agency relating to MVV Environment's proposals for an energy from waste plant to be built in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with Ministers in his Department on the MVV Environment incinerator proposal in his constituency.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, I have not had any meetings with my ministers to discuss the proposed MVV Environment incinerator in my constituency.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
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 help tackle biodiversity decline.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to turning the tide on nature’s decline. That is why, in England, we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity. We have legislated to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and to reverse species decline by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitats.
These targets, alongside other targets, on water and air quality for example, will drive action to create and restore habitats, reduce pressures on nature, and recover species. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) published 31 January 2023. Here we link the different objectives, plans and mechanisms for recovering nature.
We have introduced significant new funding for nature - for woodland and peatland restoration, for green recovery and for landscape scale nature recovery - and we are developing new land management schemes that reward environmental benefits. In the update to our Agricultural Transition Plan, published in January this year, we announced premium payments for actions that will achieve greater environmental benefits, supporting habitats and species.
In November we announced the 34 projects selected for the £25 million second round of our Landscape Recovery scheme. These projects will collectively restore more than 35,000 hectares of peatland, create over 7,000 hectares of new woodland and benefit more than 160 protected sites (SSSIs).
In June last year we also launched a £25 million Species Survival Fund to provide early progress towards our species abundance targets and support the recovery of declining species. The fund will support projects focussed on the creation and restoration of wildlife-rich habitats, including on protected sites. Successful applications to the fund will be announced this month.