Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much single-use plastic has been used in Government buildings in 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Under the Greening Government Commitments Framework published in 2021 we introduced a new target to remove consumer single-use plastic from the central Government office estate. The first report under this new framework, covering the 2021-22 financial year, is due to be published later this year, and will set out how much single-use plastic has been used.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the planned timetable is for publication of the 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The data-gathering phase of the independent 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 and 8 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) began on 8 April and ran until 7 July 2021. This initial stage collected evidence, via an online survey, from the GB statutory conservation authorities and relevant non-Governmental organisations. The planned timetable is that following a review of the evidence presented JNCC will then hold a public consultation in the late autumn before making final recommendations to Defra, Scottish Government, and Welsh Government at the end of the year.
My Department is also exploring how we might enhance species protections in a Green Paper which we intend to publish later this year. That Green Paper will ensure that the regulatory framework is clear and fit for purpose in driving the delivery of our new 2030 species abundance target and reversing declines of species, including iconic British species like the hedgehog, red squirrel and water vole.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 potential merits of introducing compulsory scanning of pets' microchips by vets.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
We consulted on compulsory scanning of microchips in the recent consultation on Cat and Dog Microchipping and Scanning in England. We are currently analysing the responses and we will respond to the consultation in the autumn.
We have worked closely with the veterinary profession and jointly agreed that the principle of scanning healthy dogs prior to euthanasia should be incorporated in the guidance that underpins the Code of Professional Conduct for Veterinary Surgeons. This guidance is now in force and applies to all veterinary surgeons operating in the UK.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of fully or highly protected Marine Protected Areas on the ecological health of inshore waters and the livelihoods of local fishing communities.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 8 June 2021, the Government published its response to the Benyon Review into Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). The Government accepted the central recommendation that we should take forward pilot sites and we will designate these next year. The purpose of HPMAs is biodiversity recovery and by setting aside areas of sea with high levels of protection, HPMAs will allow nature to recover to a more natural state, allowing the ecosystem to thrive in the absence of damaging activities. The Benyon Review Panel reviewed clear evidence and heard strong support for the ecological benefits that HPMAs can deliver. The Government will identify pilot HPMAs with ecological value, including areas with potential to recover. Defra will then use social and economic principles to minimise the impacts on sea users, including fishing communities. Defra will evaluate socio-economic concerns, including fisheries displacement, before designating HPMAs.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 scientists to bring forward alternatives to plastic tree guards.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan, we want to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this and move towards a circular economy. The Government continues to monitor the development of viable alternatives to the use of plastic tree guards and is committed to encourage recycling and the more thoughtful use of resources.
Options for protecting young trees include biodegradable tree guards, temporary fencing and wildlife management, but currently these options are less effective than plastic tree guards in deterring browsers, particularly deer.
The forestry sector is carrying out work to develop and trial more effective biodegradable tree guards and other alternatives - the forthcoming England Trees Action Plan will look at how to support this and eliminate unnecessary plastic waste.
In the meantime, current practice demands that tree guards should be retrieved after they have reached a point where they are redundant. Plans to collect and recycle the tree guards have been introduced by a number of forestry institutions.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 encourage local authorities to implement weekly food waste collections in the immediate future ahead of New Burdens funding to support that collection which will be made available in 2023.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Bill will require local authorities to arrange for the separate collection of food waste from households in England, at least once a week. Businesses and organisations will also be required to arrange for the separate collection of food waste. Ahead of implementation of this and other reforms to increase the consistency of recycling collected from households and businesses, we continue to work with local authorities, businesses, WRAP and other stakeholders to ensure the successful roll-out of separate food waste collections.
The Government will ensure that local authorities are resourced to meet net costs arising from new statutory duties. This will include the additional costs associated with the requirement to separately collect food waste, including upfront transition costs and ongoing operational costs. We are carrying out a new burdens assessment for this policy and will provide further detail on new burdens funding in due course, following the outcome of the second consultation on recycling consistency, which we are preparing to launch in the spring. In this consultation, we expect to seek further views on implementing separate food waste collections, including transition timelines for local authorities and businesses, as well as statutory guidance for waste collectors.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding and resources the Government will make available to local authorities to support the requirement for weekly food waste collections set out in the Environment Bill.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will ensure that local authorities are resourced to meet net costs arising from new statutory duties. This will include the additional costs associated with the requirement to separately collect food waste at least once a week from households, introduced through the Environment Bill. This includes upfront transition costs and ongoing operational costs.
We are carrying out a new burdens assessment for this policy and will provide further detail on new burdens funding in due course, following the outcome of the second consultation on recycling consistency, which we are preparing to launch in the spring.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what new powers he plans to afford to local authorities under changes to the local air quality management framework in the Environment Bill.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities already have a number of powers available to them to tackle air pollution – for example powers to tackle idling and smoke emissions from domestic chimneys.
The Environment Bill will improve the local air quality management framework to enable greater local action on air pollution by ensuring that responsibility for addressing air pollution is shared across a wider range of partners. We are amending the Local Air Quality Management Framework so that it brings in neighbouring authorities and where relevant, the Environment Agency, and can be extended to include additional relevant public authorities.
Through the Environment Bill we are also making it easier for local authorities to use their existing powers to tackle a major contributor to fine particulate matter emissions – domestic solid fuel burning, and are expanding the scope of the power for local authorities to enable them to tackle smoke emissions from vessels within a smoke control area.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many single-use plastic bags have been sold in each year since the levy on plastic bags was introduced.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 5 October 2015, large retailers in England have been required by law to charge a minimum of 5p for single-use plastic bags and to report on the number they sell each year.
The total number of single-use plastic bags that were sold by large retailers each full reporting year is as follows: 2.12 billion in 2016/17, 1.75 billion in 2017/18,1.11 billion in 2018/19 and 564 million in 2019/20.
Retailers are not required to report on the number of plastic bags for life sold as these are not within the scope of the carrier bag charge. However, they can provide this information voluntarily.
The full datasets for each reporting year are on GOV.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-england.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many plastic bags for life have been sold in each year since the introduction of the plastic bag levy in 2015.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since 5 October 2015, large retailers in England have been required by law to charge a minimum of 5p for single-use plastic bags and to report on the number they sell each year.
The total number of single-use plastic bags that were sold by large retailers each full reporting year is as follows: 2.12 billion in 2016/17, 1.75 billion in 2017/18,1.11 billion in 2018/19 and 564 million in 2019/20.
Retailers are not required to report on the number of plastic bags for life sold as these are not within the scope of the carrier bag charge. However, they can provide this information voluntarily.
The full datasets for each reporting year are on GOV.UK and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charge-summary-of-data-in-england.