Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of plastic recycling provision in supermarkets including where products are sold in packaging which needs to be recycled in-store.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Simpler Recycling came into force on 31 March 2025 requiring all workplaces in England with more than 10 full-time employees to separate their waste before collection, including any waste produced by employees, customers and visitors. This includes dry recyclable materials (i.e. plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and, separately, food waste. Supermarkets are therefore required to comply and separately collect plastic as well as the other recyclable materials. Defra has not assessed the plastic recycling provision in supermarkets.
Whilst supermarkets collect plastic film on their premises (e.g. plastic bags) this is not currently a requirement. However, additional waste streams that are not included in the Simpler Recycling legislation, may be collected in advance of 31 March 2027 when plastic film collections from all households and workplaces will also become mandatory.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 14 January (HL Deb col 1726), what assessment they have made of the impact of a robust household waste recycling system on reducing waste crime; and what steps they are taking towards a clear, simple and effective recycling system for household and commercial waste.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is conducting the Resources and Waste Policy Programme in England Evaluation, which includes the Simpler Recycling policy. In respect of waste crime, the evaluation work will look at the impact that our reforms to the Carrier, Broker, Dealer and Waste Permit Exemption regimes, and the introduction of Digital Waste Tracking, will have in that area. The evaluation launched in February 2022 and is due to deliver analysis across the impacts and economic evaluation strands by Spring 2029. This will look at progress across relevant outcomes including a reduction in waste crime.
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, and with the other collection and packaging reforms will support the use of more recycled material in the products we buy, and the growth of the UK recycling industry.
Simpler Recycling will be implemented as follows:
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to make recycling (a) easier and (b) more consistent for households in (i) Surrey and (ii) Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, and with the other collection and packaging reforms will support the use of more recycled material in the products we buy, and the growth of the UK recycling industry.
Defra has created a Change Network, to support local authorities and others to prepare for the upcoming household collection requirements, which take effect from 31 March 2026.
Defra is also working with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to provide guidance on best practice to help local authorities deliver services to all households.
The Government remains committed to supporting councils in delivering the collection and packaging reforms. Between Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) and Simpler Recycling, we have already invested over £1.4 billion in English local authorities to improve recycling collections, benefitting every household. We have guaranteed councils £1.1 billion income from pEPR this financial year, alongside having already invested over £340 million to support councils on weekly food collections.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support councils to improve recycling rates.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates and, with the other collection and packaging reforms, will support the use of more recycled material in the products we buy, and the growth of the UK recycling industry.
By shifting the financial burden of the end-of-life costs from taxpayers to producers, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will secure local authority funding (approximately £1.4 billion annually in the UK and approximately £1.1 billion annually in England) for the improved management of discarded packaging materials, driving in turn improvements in the quality and quantity of recycled packaging materials, as well as investment in domestic reprocessing facilities.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities to (a) improve recycling rates and (b) reduce waste sent to (i) landfill and (ii) incineration in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will ensure that across England, people will be able to recycle the same materials, whether at home, work or school.
Every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials in the following core waste streams: metal, glass, plastic (including cartons), paper and card, food waste, and garden waste (for households only).
These reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will reduce confusion with recycling to improve recycling rates, and with the other collection and packaging reforms will support the use of more recycled material in the products we buy, and the growth of the UK recycling industry.
The Environmental (England and Wales) Permitting Regulations 2016 include a permit condition for landfill and incineration operators, meaning they cannot accept separately collected paper, metal, glass or plastic for landfill or incineration unless it has gone through some form of treatment process first and is the best environmental outcome. This is in addition to existing permit measures that already prevent acceptance of recyclable material.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker whether there are plans to redesign or rebuild the metal fence in front of the House of Lords.
Answered by Baroness Garden of Frognal
The Abingdon Street Fence has been designed to improve the security of the Parliamentary Estate and everyone who works here. The planning permission granted by Westminster City Council for the ‘siting of a boundary fence’ is temporary and was granted for ten years. A longer-term solution will be taken forward via the Restoration and Renewal programme.
Asked by: Julian Smith (Conservative - Skipton and Ripon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2024 to Question 13210, what update she can provide on the progress of the Environment Agency's State of Contaminated Land Report, specifically with regard to contaminated land risks downstream of historical lead mines.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency sent the State of Contaminated Land survey to all local authorities with Part 2A duties in England on 14th November 2025.
The survey includes specific questions relating to a number of sites prioritised for inspection or determined as contaminated land due to contamination risks from abandoned metal mines including metal/ore processing areas and/or abandoned metal mine impacted flood plain areas downstream of abandoned metal mines.
The deadline for Local Authorities to respond is the 9th of January 2026. It is expected that the State of Contaminated Land report will be published in Summer 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she has taken to reduce the commission of crime in English prisons.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation service (HMPPS) has a layered approach to tackling criminality that emanates from within prisons. It deploys countermeasures such as X-ray body and baggage scanners, archway metal detectors and Enhanced Search Gates in place to stop smuggling of illicit items, such as mobile phones that are key enablers of crime in prisons.
Criminality in prisons is often orchestrated by Serious Organised Crime (SOC) nominals. HMPPS has a dedicated national SOC team that works collaboratively with law enforcement agencies and partners to identify and disrupt organised criminal activity in prison.
We bear down on crime in prison through adjudications, and prisoners who misbehave can face extra time in custody. The most serious crimes, including those where a mobile phone is being used to coordinate criminal activity, are referred to the police in line with the Crime in Prisons Referral Arrangement (CiPRA). We work closely with law enforcement partners through the Crime in Prisons Taskforce which was established to work closely with the police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure serious crimes are addressed through the criminal justice system, rather than solely through internal disciplinary measures.
In parallel, we are tackling the root causes of reoffending by addressing offenders’ underlying needs and supporting their rehabilitation journey. This includes providing a range of rehabilitative interventions, including education, employment and substance misuse support.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of street cleaning, litter collection and maintenance in Great Yarmouth’s town centre and seafront.
Local councils are responsible for keeping their streets clear of litter and refuse. The role of central Government is to enable and support local action. In the Pride in Place Strategy this Government has committed to bringing forward statutory enforcement guidance on both littering and fly-tipping, modernising the code of practice that outlines the cleaning standards expected of local authorities, and refreshing best practice guidance on the powers available to local authorities to force land and building owners to clean up their premises.
We are also targeting some of the more commonly littered items to reduce the presence of these on our streets. The sale of single-use vapes was banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. Plastic drinks bottles and metal drinks containers make up 55% of litter volume. The Deposit Return Scheme will cover plastic and metal drinks containers (like bottles and cans), and the goal is to reduce litter and help keep our streets, rivers, and oceans clean.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to introduce national standards for Electric Arc Furnace-grade steel scrap.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises that the UK steel industry's shift towards electric arc furnaces will elevate the importance of high-quality scrap as a material for UK steelmaking. The UK’s abundant scrap supply offers domestic steelmaking a strategic advantage and this creates opportunities for both steelmakers and metal recyclers alike. No decisions have been taken at this stage on whether to introduce mandatory national standards for Electric Arc Furnace-grade steel scrap, but we are actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties.