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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a complete ban on single-use plastic bags.

The Government commissioned an independent study last year to assess the impacts of a potential ban on single-use carrier bags in England. Based on wide evidence, we are not currently considering an outright ban.

We recognise the role that a single-use carrier bag can play in spontaneous unplanned purchasing, and that alternative bag types can potentially have a significantly higher carbon impact than single-use carrier bags.

Consequently, we published a consultation to extend the existing carrier bag charge to all retailer and to increase the minimum charge to 10p. Both the summary and Government responses will be published in due course.