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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to extend the five pence plastic bag charge to all retailers within the 2019 Parliament.

The 5p charge has been highly successful at reducing the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, doing so by over 90% in the main retailers since its introduction in 2015.

The Government consulted last year on extending the charge to all retailers and increasing the minimum charge to at least 10p. We will publish the summary of responses and a Government response setting out next steps as soon as possible.