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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons small and medium-sized enterprises are exempted from the provisions of the draft B Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) Order 2015; and if she will bring forward a revised draft Order omitting that exemption.

We have chosen to exempt small and medium businesses (with fewer than 250 employees) from the plastic bag charge to avoid placing an administrative burden on start-up and growing businesses at a time when we are supporting growth in the economy.

Large companies make up the major proportion of the country’s retail market. For example, the relatively small number of retail companies in the UK with more than 500 employees employ 65% of people working in retail and have 69% of annual retail business turnover.

We have no plans to remove the exemption for small and medium businesses, although those businesses are able to charge on a voluntary basis.