Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to reduce its use of single-use plastics.

In our 25 Year Environment plan the government outlined a range of measures on how we will reduce the amount of plastic in circulation through reducing demand for single-use plastic. This included a commitment to removing all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices.

At the Department for Education, in our London headquarters, we have already replaced all single-use plastic coffee cups and food containers from our catering services, with compostable alternatives. We have also replaced plastic water cups with compostable versions.

We will continue to work with the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and our suppliers to remove single-use plastics from our office estate.