Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Our Waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England, published on 18 December 2018, what his policy is on (a) extended producer responsibility and (b) product standards for (i) textiles, (ii) bulky waste items, (iii) construction and demolition materials, (iv) vehicle tyres and (v) fishing gear.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are not exploring Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for textiles, furniture, construction and fishing gear while we focus our efforts on delivering EPR for packaging. The Government remains committed to introducing EPR for packaging in 2025.
We are working on product standards for textiles, bulky waste items, construction and demolition material and fishing gear through:
We do not have current plans to consult on EPR or product standards for vehicle tyres, but we will keep this option under review.
Asked by: Hilary Benn (Labour - Leeds Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received on the effect of shortages of foam and particleboard on the UK furniture industry; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The issue on the effect of shortages of foam and particleboard on the UK furniture industry has been raised with the Department through correspondence, as well as engagement with the UK furniture sector.
Various factors have contributed to a severe lack of raw materials for manufacturers, including successive storms in the Gulf of Mexico, annual turnarounds at chemical plants in Europe, and technical issues at another plant. This has subsequently impacted the cost of these materials.
The reported issues with the supply of some chemicals used in foam production is a commercial issue and likely a result of an increased global demand on these materials. We will continue to monitor the situation and engage with the furniture sector to gain a better understanding of the situation and its impact.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government took to support the pub industry during the covid-19 lockdown; and what steps he is taking to support the pub industry as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The pub industry continues to have access to a range of government support measures including, but not limited to:
•A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England, saving around 350,000 ratepayers a combined £10bn.
•A VAT deferral for up to 12 months
•Measures to make it easier to claim back duty on spoiled beer, wine and cider.
•A business grant worth £10,000 or £25,000 for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors
•The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has supported 1.4 million jobs across the hospitality sector and which runs until October
•Access to affordable, government backed finance through Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBLS) for and larger firms, along with the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises.
•Protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until September 30, 2020
In addition to this unprecedented package of support for businesses, the Summer Economic Update announced a VAT rate reduction from 20% to 5% - worth £4.1bn – for hospitality, accommodation and attractions, and the £500m Eat Out to Help Out scheme which entitles every diner to a 50% discount of up to £10 per head on their meal, at any participating restaurant, café or pub to encourage people to return to eating out and to support the sector’s recovery. This move will support up to 129,000 businesses, including the majority of pubs that serve food. Over 85% of pubs serve food and will benefit from both schemes. All pubs, including wet-led pubs will also benefit from the proposed regulatory easements in the Business and Planning Bill, which will make it easier, quicker and cheaper to set up furniture in adjacent outdoor spaces and to automatically convert all current licenses to allow pubs to sell off-licence.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide financial support to wet-led pubs as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The pub industry continues to have access to a range of government support measures including, but not limited to:
•A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England, saving around 350,000 ratepayers a combined £10bn.
•A VAT deferral for up to 12 months
•Measures to make it easier to claim back duty on spoiled beer, wine and cider.
•A business grant worth £10,000 or £25,000 for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors
•The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has supported 1.4 million jobs across the hospitality sector and which runs until October
•Access to affordable, government backed finance through Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBLS) for and larger firms, along with the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises.
•Protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until September 30, 2020
In addition to this unprecedented package of support for businesses, the Summer Economic Update announced a VAT rate reduction from 20% to 5% - worth £4.1bn – for hospitality, accommodation and attractions, and the £500m Eat Out to Help Out scheme which entitles every diner to a 50% discount of up to £10 per head on their meal, at any participating restaurant, café or pub to encourage people to return to eating out and to support the sector’s recovery. This move will support up to 129,000 businesses, including the majority of pubs that serve food. Over 85% of pubs serve food and will benefit from both schemes. All pubs, including wet-led pubs will also benefit from the proposed regulatory easements in the Business and Planning Bill, which will make it easier, quicker and cheaper to set up furniture in adjacent outdoor spaces and to automatically convert all current licenses to allow pubs to sell off-licence.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Health and Safety Executive on protecting the health of workers in recycling businesses who are exposed to flame retardant chemicals when stripping down end-of-life sofas and mattresses.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) outline specific duties on employers to protect workers from harmful substances, such as foams and flame retardants, which may be contained in soft furnishings such as mattresses and sofas. HSE provides practical advice and guidance on the basics of COSHH, completing COSHH assessments and links to industry specific information and guidance to prevent and control workplace exposure to harmful substances at http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh.
Furniture manufacturers buy upholstery materials that have already received treatment to meet specified ignition resistance levels and are suitably labelled. HSE has not specifically examined the issue of exposure to flame retardant chemicals when cutting and sewing these fabrics. Exposure to flame retardant chemicals from stripping end of life sofas and mattresses is not a known issue in the waste and recycling industry and no guidance has been produced on the topic by either HSE or the industry’s own Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Health and Safety Executive on taking steps to protect the health of workers in the UK furniture manufacturing business who are exposed to flame retardant chemicals when cutting and sewing chemically saturated fabrics and foams.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) outline specific duties on employers to protect workers from harmful substances, such as foams and flame retardants, which may be contained in soft furnishings such as mattresses and sofas. HSE provides practical advice and guidance on the basics of COSHH, completing COSHH assessments and links to industry specific information and guidance to prevent and control workplace exposure to harmful substances at http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh.
Furniture manufacturers buy upholstery materials that have already received treatment to meet specified ignition resistance levels and are suitably labelled. HSE has not specifically examined the issue of exposure to flame retardant chemicals when cutting and sewing these fabrics. Exposure to flame retardant chemicals from stripping end of life sofas and mattresses is not a known issue in the waste and recycling industry and no guidance has been produced on the topic by either HSE or the industry’s own Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure compliance with the Stockholm Convention by ensuring disposal of furniture containing flame retardant chemicals safely at end-life.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Stockholm Convention bans or restricts the use of persistent organic pollutant chemicals (POPs) that are toxic, persist in the environment, bio-accumulate in humans and animals and have long-ranging properties. The Convention has banned some chemicals that have historically been used as flame retardants in soft furnishings and the UK has supported this action.
The waste industry has a legal requirement to destroy POPs that are in articles such as soft furnishings and this is achieved if they are incinerated at the correct temperature. We have recently completed a study to better understand the use of Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD), which were the most commonly used flame retardants in soft furnishings before they were banned. We will now work with the waste industry to use this information to recognise where soft furnishings are likely to contain POPs, thereby ensuring disposal processes destroy the banned flame retardants.
Asked by: Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of the temporary closure of recycling companies on waste disposal authorities, and (2) the ability of those authorities to store or otherwise dispose of or deal with the recyclates collected or received from waste collection authorities.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Recycling companies rely on Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) to provide them with some of the materials which can then be used to make new products. Defra officials have been working closely with local authorities and the waste sector to keep HWRCs open. There is no reason in law why HWRCs cannot be open and where possible, local authorities should seek to retain access to HWRC services for their residents to dispose of waste. The Government is not setting a date by which HWRCs should be open. We recognise that the opening of HWRCs will depend on local circumstances and resource availability. A “one size fits all” approach is not appropriate. The decision to open a HWRC remains with the relevant local authority. Our most recent guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-to-local-authorities-on-prioritising-waste-collections/managing-household-waste-and-recycling-centres-hwrcs-in-england-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic
Indications are that most local authorities have been able to maintain collection services for packaging and food waste and continue to send materials to be recycled. Material recovery facilities which receive, separate and prepare recyclable materials for reprocessing and recycling companies, have been operating whilst maintaining social distancing measures. The impacts of COVID-19 and related restrictions on these facilities and the recycling sector are being closely monitored by Defra. In addition, the Charted Institute for Waste Management (CIWM) has worked with Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), local authority bodies and commercial waste collectors to establish the WasteSupport platform to assist local authorities to access additional capacity in the commercial waste collection sector for processing waste.
For some materials (including waste electrical equipment, furniture , and textiles) there are particular challenges and Defra is in regular discussions with these sectors, including the reuse/repair and reprocessing organisations, about these.
The Environment Agency has published time-limited Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs) to allow some flexibility for local authorities and other operators where, for reasons beyond their control, compliance with certain regulatory requirements may not be possible due to COVID-19. These include the ability to store more material at a permitted site than the permit usually allows. Each COVID-19 RPS sets out when it can be applied and conditions that will need to comply with, to ensure that the risks to the environment and human health are minimised. More details can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-regulatory-position-statements.
Defra has published guidance on prioritisation of waste services and on management of HWRCs during the current pandemic and continues to monitor the situation with local authorities and industry bodies.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
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 he has made of the (a) enforcement and (b) effectiveness of the published acceptable limits for formaldehyde both within and released from MDF wood used in furniture.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Six sites in the UK are engaged in the manufacture of particleboard and fibreboard. These sites are all currently compliant with the formaldehyde release limits set out in current published UK guidance. Following the publication in November 2015 of new EU guidance and emission limits under the EU Industrial Emission Directive, UK regulators are currently working with industry to ensure that their environmental permits are all reviewed and updated by the implementation deadline of 20 November 2019.
Asked by: Countess of Mar (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the European Furniture Industry Confederation's supplementary letter to its submission to the consultation on changes to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The consultation on proposals to revise the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 took place between September and November last year. There were over 120 responses, including from the European Furniture Industry Confederation.
Revision of the regulations is complex, with a broad spectrum of views expressed by respondents from industry, fire services, charities and regulators. The responses are currently being analysed and the views expressed and the evidence presented is being considered and evaluated. Once this is completed, the Government will issue its response. We anticipate that this will be in the spring.