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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether statutory consultees are required to assess risks from (a) lithium-ion batteries and (b) gas canisters when reviewing fire prevention plans for energy-from-waste facilities.

The Environment Agency is responsible for reviewing fire prevention plans (FPP) for energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities in England under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR) 2016. Under the EPR, there are no statutory consultees. However, the Environment Agency consults the local fire and rescue service on every permit application which it receives for a new EfW facility, which will include the proposed FPP.