Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain - 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 potential merits of treating storm-driven coastal erosion as an emergency event for the purposes of funding support for (a) affected households and (b) local authorities.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government invested £539 million to manage coastal erosion, sea flooding, and tidal flooding between 2024 and 2026. The Government has implemented major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy to make it quicker and easier to deliver the right defences in the right places.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department has made an assessment of the potential impact on pubs of Extended Producer Responsibility fees being applied to goods that do not enter the household waste stream and they already pay for through commercial waste management.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 ensure that her Department’s packaging reforms do not unnecessarily contribute to an increase to the cost of living.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish a comparative analysis of glass packaging Extended Producer Responsibility fees in other advanced economies.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her department will publish the call for evidence about implementation of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 potential impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme on the brewing sector.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
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 potential impact of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on the price level of products, including bottled beer.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an assessment of the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging, including cumulative costs. This assessed packaging producers as a whole but did not provide a separate estimate for the brewing sector.
Asked by: Lord Spellar (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 facilitate the transfer of water between regions in England to ensure adequate water supplies in areas experiencing increased water stress.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies set out how they plan to continue to supply water to their customers through statutory Water Resources Management Plans (WRMPs) which include demand management and new water resources infrastructure, including transfers.
£104 billion of private sector investment has been secured which will fund essential infrastructure including large scale water transfers.
Asked by: Lord Douglas-Miller (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many organisations have requested an extension for submitting views to the Call for Evidence on Gamebird Release, Shooting and Welfare during Rearing in England; whether those extension requests were granted; and for what reasons requests were granted or denied.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has received requests from two organisations for an extension to the Call for Evidence on Gamebird Release, Shooting and Welfare during Rearing in England. The requests were denied as we consider the two-month response period provides a reasonable and proportionate timeframe for interested parties to submit evidence.
Asked by: Josh Dean (Labour - Hertford and Stortford)
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 (a) fire, (b) explosion and (c) odour risks arising from reduced gas management at landfill sites where landfill gas to electricity generation ceases when the Renewables Obligation for the landfill gas to electricity sector expires on 31 March 2027.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Under the Environmental Permitting Regulations, where collected landfill gas cannot be utilised for energy generation, landfill operators are required to flare the gas in accordance with an approved management plan to minimise potential environmental and health & safety risks. We continue to work with DESNZ and industry to understand the impacts of the Renewable Obligations Certificates (ROCs) expiring in 2027.
Defra is working with DESNZ to explore the implementation of a transition scheme following ROCs cessation and a long-term alternative for landfill gas capture, as set out in the Methane Action Plan.