Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of e-waste; and what steps they are taking to address this.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this it recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across their complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.
Defra also published a consultation and a call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 with a view to improving levels of collection for re-use and recycling, improving treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE and wider measures in support of the circular economy. The consultation and call for evidence closed on 7 March. Defra is currently analysing the responses and will publish a summary of responses in due course.
The current regulations require producers to finance the collection and proper treatment of WEEE which has stimulated investment in WEEE treatment infrastructure.
Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 obligated producers are required to obtain Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs), as evidence that a certain tonnage of packaging waste that has been recycled. The sale of PRNs generates millions of pounds of revenue a year for reprocessors and exporters of packaging waste (circa £490m in 2022), which should be re-invested to support development of the necessary recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.
Asked by: Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve data collection, mapping, and tracking of critical minerals and other material streams within electrical and electronic equipment.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal. In addition, Defra also published a consultation and call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013. This sought evidence in support of future policy measures intended to improve treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE. Defra is currently analysing and will publish a summary in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to improve (a) data collection, (b) mapping and (c) tracking of (i) critical minerals and (ii) other material streams in (A) electrical and (B) electronic equipment.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal. In addition, Defra also published a consultation and call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013. This sought evidence in support of future policy measures intended to improve treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE. Defra is currently analysing and will publish a summary in due course.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to (a) support the development of recycling (i) infrastructure and (ii) technologies and (b) help enable increased recovery of (A) critical minerals and (B) other materials.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this it recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.
Defra also published a consultation and a call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 with a view to improving levels of collection for re-use and recycling, improving treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE and wider measures in support of the circular economy. The consultation and call for evidence closed on 7 March. Defra is currently analysing the responses and will publish a summary of responses in due course.
The current regulations require producers to finance the collection and proper treatment of WEEE which has stimulated investment in WEEE treatment infrastructure. Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 obligated producers are required to obtain Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs), as evidence that a certain tonnage of packaging waste that has been recycled. The sale of PRNs generates millions of pounds of revenue a year for reprocessors and exporters of packaging waste (circa £490m in 2022), which should be re-invested to support development of the necessary recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.
Asked by: Caroline Ansell (Conservative - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential barriers to wider deployment of biomass fuels.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The government’s Biomass Strategy, published in 2023, analysed biomass availability and recognised that sustainable biomass is a limited resource and there is uncertainty around future availability for use in the UK. It concluded its use should be prioritised where it offers the greatest environmental, economic, and social benefits.
This analysis has been built on in the government’s response to the second Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate consultation, published in April 2024. This set out that while biofuels have a significant role to play, international availability of different types of sustainable biomass may limit their total application for the decarbonisation of aviation.
The Government is preparing a Low Carbon Fuel Strategy for future publication.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve recycling infrastructure and technologies to enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this we announced in February the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. The centre will deliver solutions that will promote recycling and Circular Economy solutions across a range of important minerals and metals, including Critical Minerals. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across their complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.
Further, Government recently consulted on proposals to reform the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations and will consult in the summer on reforms to the Batteries Regulations, with the intention in both cases of improving the collection and treatment of waste products and materials at end-of-life.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on meeting its Greening Government Commitment targets.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP’s 2023/24 GGC performance is currently being collated and will be submitted to DEFRA at the end of May 2024. Therefore, 2022/23 is the latest full year of GGC data that is available and a summary of DWP’s performance (including our ALBs) against each of the headline GGC targets from 2022/23 is provided below. Further details of DWP’s performance (excluding ALBs) is available in DWP’s 2022/23 Annual Report and Accounts.
Target A: Mitigating climate change: working towards net zero by 2050
DWP reduced our total greenhouse gas emissions by 32% compared to the 17/18 baseline, which is on track to meet the target to reduce by 45% by 2024/25.
DWP reduced our direct greenhouse gas emissions by 1% compared to the 17/18 baseline. During the pandemic DWP took on c.200 additional properties to respond to national requirements. These buildings were still part of the estate in 2022/23 which impacted the direct greenhouse gas emissions performance; however, significant estate rationalisation has occurred during 2023/24 and we forecast we will meet the 2024/25 target to reduce by 17%.
Target B: Minimising waste and promoting resource efficiency
DWP reduced our total waste generated by 31% compared to the 2017/18 baseline, exceeding the target to reduce by 15% by 2024/25.
Target C: Minimising waste and promoting resource efficiency
DWP reduced our water consumption by 19% compared to the 2017/18 baseline, exceeding the target to reduce by 8% by 2024/25.
Target D: Procuring sustainable products and services
DWP has a sustainable procurement policy and ensures all procurement activities comply with the Government Buying Standards, meeting the target requirements.
Target E: Nature Recovery – making space for thriving plants and wildlife
DWP has developed a draft nature recovery plan and intend to finalise this before 2024/25 to meet the target requirements.
Target F: Adapting to climate change
DWP has developed a climate change adaptation strategy which includes a climate change risk assessment and climate change adaptation plan for its estates and operations, meeting the target requirements.
Target G: Reducing environmental impacts from information communication technology (ICT) and digital
DWP provide annual reporting data against the ICT & digital services strategy and provide membership to the sustainable technology advice and reporting team, meeting the target requirements.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of interest rate charges on Government student loan financing, following research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies which showed that higher interest rates will add more than £10 billion per year to the cost of England’s student loan system.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Student loans are valued in the department’s annual accounts in line with the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 and set out in The Government Financial Reporting Manual which is attached.
Under which where future cash flows are discounted to measure the fair value of a financial asset, this should be done using the higher of the rate intrinsic to the financial instrument or the HMT discount rate. HMT set the discount rate annually based on a 10 year rolling average of gilt yields. For student loans the intrinsic rate would be the discount rate that gave a Resource Accounting Budget (RAB) or stock charge of 0%, so the HMT discount rate is used provided the RAB charge is greater than 0%. Should the HMT discount rate result in a RAB charge calculation giving a negative value then the intrinsic rate is used instead, meaning that that RAB charge will take a value of 0%.
The most recent forecasts for the student finance system can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2022-23.
The net present value of future repayments was calculated by discounting all future repayments at a rate of RPI -1.3% per year until the end of financial year 2029/30, and -0.2% per year from financial year 2030/31, to the same point in time as the loan outlay or loan balance. This is the discount rate for financial instruments set by HMT in 2022 and is intended to reflect of the cost of government borrowing. The most recent student loan forecasts using the 2023 discount rate set by HMT will be published at the end of June 2024.
The department has carefully assessed the impact of changes and published a full and comprehensive analysis in the Higher Education Reform and Consultation Document Equality Impact Assessment, which is attached.
The student loan repayment system under Plan 5 is progressive, with repayments being positively correlated with lifetime earnings. The highest earners make the largest individual contributions to the system overall, and the lowest earners are required to contribute the least.
Lower earners, whether male or female, are protected. If a borrower’s income is below the repayment threshold, they will not be required to make any repayments at all. At the end of the loan term, any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be written off at no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of protection.
The department will continue to keep the student finance system, including repayment terms, under review to ensure that it remains sustainable and delivers value for money for students and the taxpayer.
Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the student loan repayment system, introduced in August 2023, on female students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Student loans are valued in the department’s annual accounts in line with the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 and set out in The Government Financial Reporting Manual which is attached.
Under which where future cash flows are discounted to measure the fair value of a financial asset, this should be done using the higher of the rate intrinsic to the financial instrument or the HMT discount rate. HMT set the discount rate annually based on a 10 year rolling average of gilt yields. For student loans the intrinsic rate would be the discount rate that gave a Resource Accounting Budget (RAB) or stock charge of 0%, so the HMT discount rate is used provided the RAB charge is greater than 0%. Should the HMT discount rate result in a RAB charge calculation giving a negative value then the intrinsic rate is used instead, meaning that that RAB charge will take a value of 0%.
The most recent forecasts for the student finance system can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2022-23.
The net present value of future repayments was calculated by discounting all future repayments at a rate of RPI -1.3% per year until the end of financial year 2029/30, and -0.2% per year from financial year 2030/31, to the same point in time as the loan outlay or loan balance. This is the discount rate for financial instruments set by HMT in 2022 and is intended to reflect of the cost of government borrowing. The most recent student loan forecasts using the 2023 discount rate set by HMT will be published at the end of June 2024.
The department has carefully assessed the impact of changes and published a full and comprehensive analysis in the Higher Education Reform and Consultation Document Equality Impact Assessment, which is attached.
The student loan repayment system under Plan 5 is progressive, with repayments being positively correlated with lifetime earnings. The highest earners make the largest individual contributions to the system overall, and the lowest earners are required to contribute the least.
Lower earners, whether male or female, are protected. If a borrower’s income is below the repayment threshold, they will not be required to make any repayments at all. At the end of the loan term, any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be written off at no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of protection.
The department will continue to keep the student finance system, including repayment terms, under review to ensure that it remains sustainable and delivers value for money for students and the taxpayer.
Asked by: Douglas Ross (Conservative - Moray)
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 is taking to help protect farmers against new strains of potato blight.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a holistic approach that carefully considers all available plant protection methods and keeps the use of pesticides to levels that are ecologically and economically justified. IPM lies at the heart of our approach to minimise the environmental impact of pesticides and is a key tool for businesses facing the challenges of pesticide resistance, removal of pesticides from the market, and changing pest pressures due to climate change. Within the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) we will set out our policies to increase the uptake of IPM by farmers, growers, amenity managers and amateur gardeners.
Having an IPM approach can reduce the risks associated with pesticides, combat pesticide resistance, and support sustainable agricultural productivity. IPM aims to diversify crop protection and reduce reliance on the use of chemical pesticides by making use of lower risk alternatives and promoting natural processes. For example, creating habitats for natural predators of plant pests, or using crop rotations to break pest, weed and disease cycles. When alternative methods are ineffective or unavailable, IPM also aims to optimise and minimise the use of chemical pesticides through targeted and precise application.
We have recently commissioned a package of research projects that will bring together scientific evidence underpinning IPM and to look at ways of further encouraging its uptake. This work will support farmers’ access to the most effective IPM tools available and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK.
Defra is also a partner in the European Research Area Network (ERA-Net) Co-Fund on Sustainable Crop Production (SusCrop). This research network aims to enhance cooperation and coordination of different national and regional research programmes focussing on agriculture and climate change, sustainable farming systems and biodiversity, sustainable water management, resource efficiency and resilience in the food chain. It also seeks to increase productivity through technological innovation.
Projects within SusCrop ERA-Net include: ‘Eco-friendly solutions for the integrated management of late and early blight of potatoes (ECOSOL)’ which aims to Identify Effective Biological Control Agents and Plant Resistance Inducers for the Control of Potato Late Blight in the field.