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Written Question
Ivory: Sales
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect the restrictions on antique ivory sales coming into effect on 1 June will have on the market for portrait miniatures; and what plans they have to consider (1) reducing, or (2) dropping, the £50 fee for exempting items like portrait miniatures to ensure the sale of such items remains economic.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government published an impact assessment for the Ivory Act when the legislation was introduced as a Bill in May 2018.

The registration fee for items that fall under a section 10 exemption, which includes pre-1918 portrait miniatures that have a surface area of no more than 320cm2, is £20 per registration. Groups of three to twenty portrait miniatures that meet the requirement of the exemption and are being dealt as part of a single transaction may be registered together for a fee of £50. The fees have been set at a manageable level to encourage compliance and meet the principle that costs should not be borne by the taxpayer. We will keep the fees under review.


Written Question
Undocumented Migrants: English Channel
Wednesday 23rd February 2022

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Lord Sharpe of Epsom on 8 February (HL Deb cols 1553-1554), why the figures on the number of migrants crossing the English Channel will in future be published on a quarterly, rather than daily basis.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The Home Office are currently considering advice from the independent UK Statistics Authority to make sure statistics on small boats crossing are published in an orderly way, which provides a clear picture of the small boats issue to the public. The Home Office has recently announced its intention to publish a quarterly statistics release on irregular migration to the UK, including the number of people arriving across the Channel in small boats. The first release will be on 24 February 2022. This will ensure regular statistics are released in an orderly, transparent way that is accessible to everyone, meeting the principles set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

No final decisions have been made in relation to the release of small boat numbers, beyond the quarterly publication, and further details will be confirmed in due course. In the meantime, the Home Office continues to provide these to journalists on days where we see arrivals.


Written Question
Summertime
Monday 22nd November 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of remaining on British Summer Time all year round; and what plans they have, if any, to make such a change.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government believes that the current daylight-saving arrangements represent the optimal use of the available daylight across the UK.


Written Question
Employment: Proof of Identity
Monday 5th July 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether digital IDs would (1) speed up the process, and (2) create an even playing field, for determining the right to work of (a) UK nationals, and (b) foreign nationals seeking to work in the UK; and what assessment they have made of the potential benefits of digital IDs for UK workers who lack a passport or driver’s licence.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

We recognise the benefits increased digital checking capability could provide as employers move towards an increase in hybrid and remote working business models.

The Home Office’s online right to work checking service has been in operation since April 2018. It enables employers to undertake free digital checks on prospective employees with a valid biometric residence card or permit, status under the EU Settlement Scheme or the new Points-Based System, and those granted a BNO visa.

Since January 2019, employers have been able to rely on the online right to work checking service to check a prospective employee’s immigration status. From then until the end of March 2021, there were over 1.3 million views by individuals and over 390,000 views by employers carrying out right to work checks digitally.

We are currently evaluating the potential for introducing the option for employers to use specialist technology, including identity document validation technology, to support right to work checks. This may provide a permanent digital option for those unable to use the Home Office online checking service, including UK and Irish citizens.

We are discussing with representatives from employer groups the value of such technology, whilst ensuring we maintain the security and integrity of our system in the long-term.


Written Question
Recycling
Wednesday 26th May 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards improving recycling and reuse in England; and what steps they have taken to ensure their policies in this regard are compatible with the policies of (1) the Welsh Government, and (2) the Scottish Government.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy sets out the Government’s ambitions for increased resource efficiency and a more circular economy in England. These ambitions require changes in how we produce and consume products and materials, as well as how we treat and dispose of them at end-of-life.

Waste is a devolved issue and the devolved administrations have their own arrangements for waste prevention, household recycling and waste collections.

Our Waste Prevention Programme (WPP) for England has been in place since 2013, outlining actions for the Government, industry and others around the top of the waste hierarchy. This focuses on how to prevent waste, for instance through reusing goods and materials already in the system. We are now consulting on a new WPP for the future – Towards a Resource Efficient Economy. This will help Government departments as well as industry work together to accelerate action in this area for the future. Ministers in the devolved administrations are fully aware of our consultation on a new WPP, and the policy proposals it contains are being discussed at official level.

We are also consulting on our collection and packaging reforms: consistency in collections for recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (EPR) and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

Our reform to consistent collections will make recycling easier and ensure that there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England. This will help to reduce confusion with recycling, ensure that there is more recycled material in the products we buy and that the UK recycling industry grows. It would also constitute a significant step towards meeting our 25 Year Environment Plan commitment to eliminate avoidable waste by 2050 and contribute towards meeting our commitment of 65% of municipal (household-like) waste to be recycled by 2035.

Our DRS will ensure that significantly more drinks bottles and cans are recycled and reused and not condemned to landfill or littered in our communities. With consumers paying a small deposit when purchasing an in-scope drinks container, they will be incentivised to take their empty bottle or can to a return point to get their deposit back. The DRS will be for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a separate scheme under development in Scotland, although we will continue work to ensure that both schemes can operate coherently together.

Our EPR scheme for packaging will apply across the UK and will see producers meeting the full net cost of managing the packaging that they place on the market once it becomes waste. Higher fees will be paid by those producers who use packaging that is more difficult to recycle or reuse, producers will need to meet higher recycling targets, and we are proposing that firms will be incentivised to reduce litter and keep our communities clean.


Written Question
Hydrogen and Nuclear Power
Thursday 29th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to progress (1) the replacement of the UK’s nuclear reactors, and (2) action on hydrogen as an alternative low carbon fuel; what are their timelines for any such steps; and how might these timelines be accelerated.

Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution included nuclear and hydrogen among the 10 priority areas of the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Programme. Low carbon hydrogen and nuclear could both play a key role in meeting our legally binding commitment to achieving net zero by 2050, with potential to help decarbonise vital UK industry sectors and provide flexible energy across heat, power and transport.

(1) The Government’s commitment to advancing large, small and advanced nuclear reactors was confirmed as part of the 10 Point Plan. Alongside entering negotiations in relation to Sizewell C and continuing to engage other nuclear developers on proposals for future projects, we have created a £385m Advanced Nuclear Fund to deploy Small Modular Reactors and an Advanced Modular Reactor demonstrator by the early 2030s. Some AMR designs suggest the production of hydrogen as an end-use, and all nuclear reactor technologies, current and future, have the potential to feed into the hydrogen market either by producing low carbon electricity or heat for increasingly efficient electrolysis production.

(2) The Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan confirmed our aim, working with industry, for 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for use across the economy. As we progress towards this ambition, we would hope to see around 1GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2025.

The UK has expertise and assets to support both electrolytic (green) and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) enabled (blue) hydrogen. Our twin track approach to enable both routes will drive cost effective supply volumes in the 2020s in line with our 2030 5GW ambition, whilst scaling up green hydrogen.

The ambition will be supported by a package of measures, including:

  1. The first ever UK Hydrogen Strategy set to be published in Q2 of this year which will set out the key steps needed in the 2020s to deliver our 5GW ambition and set the context for further scale up on the way to net zero.
  2. The £240m Net-Zero Hydrogen Fund (NZHF) confirmed out to 2025, intended to support both green and blue hydrogen production. We are engaging with industry on the design of the fund, and more details will be published alongside the strategy.
  3. Long term, sustainable business models and the revenue mechanism to support them, to stimulate private investment in new low carbon hydrogen projects. We will consult on our minded to position for business models alongside the strategy, with a view to finalising in 2022. We will also set out plans for the revenue mechanism this year.

Timelines are ambitious whilst allowing sufficient time for evidence-based policy decisions that will benefit taxpayers and consumers.


Written Question
Immigration Controls
Monday 26th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Home Secretary on 24 March (HC Deb, cols 921–36), what are the (1) family reunion rights, (2) associated timescales, for asylum seekers who are granted asylum, and (3) the family reunion rights for illegal arrivals from a safe country.

Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)

The current family reunion policy allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Over 29,000 visas have been issued under this route in the last 5 years.

Currently, a person is eligible to sponsor a family reunion application as soon as they have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. There is no limit or timescale when they stop becoming eligible, other than if they become naturalised and obtain British citizenship. Once someone overseas applies for a family reunion visa, our customer service standard is 60 UK working days for straightforward cases.

As set out in the New Plan for Immigration policy statement published on 24 March, we are committed to review the refugee family reunion routes available to refugees who have arrived through safe and legal routes. Subject to considering consultation responses, those who are granted the new temporary protection status are proposed to have limited family reunion rights.

We have initiated a comprehensive consultation and engagement process which is open now until 6 May. We will use this opportunity to listen to a wide range of views from stakeholders across the sector, as well as members of the public. All policy development will be undertaken in line with the law, including our equalities duties and international obligations.


Written Question
Waste: Coronavirus
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the levels of waste associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has not been collecting data specifically on covid-related waste – waste classifications are determined by content rather than context. These figures are published on a regular basis.

We have been working closely with the local authorities and the waste industry to monitor the impact of the pandemic on their services. We have run a regular survey on the impacts of COVID-19 on local authority waste operations, including on levels of waste, the output of which can be found at www.adeptnet.org.uk. We also collected informal data through industry discussions and internal surveys across a range of areas such as waste arisings and throughputs.


Written Question
Plastics: Recycling
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress towards (1) increasing recycling and reducing waste, (2) increasing recycling of plastic waste, and (3) reducing plastic waste.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The Government is committed to increasing recycling rates and reducing waste, including plastics.

Our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy outlines our commitments to:

  • eliminate avoidable waste by 2050;
  • achieve 65% recycling rate for municipal (household-like) waste by 2035;
  • work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025;
  • eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042.

To help us achieve this target, we have introduced legislation through the Environment Bill that will require local authorities in England to collect a core set of recyclable materials, including plastics, from households and businesses. By making recycling clearer and easier, we will better preserve material value and help to grow demand for recyclables. We are also seeking a new power in the Environment Bill to be able to place charges on other single-use plastic items to encourage businesses and citizens to shift toward more reusable products.

Together with the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and the HM Treasury's Plastic Packaging Tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, these reforms will increase demand for secondary material plastic and therefore increase investment in recycling infrastructure. We have recently published consultations on introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, and will be consulting on introducing consistency in household and business recycling shortly.

We have made significant progress so far to reduce plastic waste, by introducing one of the world's toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, and significantly reducing the sales of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarket retailers by 95% with our 5p charge. We are extending the charge to all retailers and increasing the charge to at least 10p in Spring 2021. We also introduced a restriction on the supply of plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers from the 1st October and we are currently assessing whether there are additional items for which a ban would be a suitable and proportionate measure.

More generally, on 18 March we launched a 12 week consultation on a new 'Waste Prevention Programme for England: Towards a Resource Efficient Economy' (attached). This builds on the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy and seeks to agree a programme which helps with our strategic goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving Net Zero, protecting our natural capital, addressing our resource security, and creating jobs and growth, as well as increasing our resource productivity and minimising waste. The consultation document outlines the potential for, and benefits of, action on waste prevention. It recognises that action is required across society - by Government, businesses, local authorities, consumers and others - for progress to be made.


Written Question
Litter
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress towards (1) reducing litter, and (2) reducing litter in (a) the countryside, and (b) on the seashore.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

We published the Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, setting out our aim to deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering within a generation. Annual reports of progress with delivery of the Litter Strategy can be found at gov.uk.

We have also published a “litter dashboard” which explains the Government’s approach to understanding the extent of litter and littering in England. The dashboard is available at gov.uk.

The latest Litter Strategy annual report and litter dashboard have been delayed due the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our latest study of litter composition in the UK, carried out by Keep Britain Tidy, is attached.

There has been an increase in number of visitors accessing the countryside since lockdown restrictions were first introduced last year. We know that people’s health, wellbeing and resilience can be improved and strengthened by spending time in the natural environment. We are clear, however, that everyone should follow the recently updated Countryside Code, which is available on gov.uk. A key part of government strategy is to get clear and consistent messages to the media, which highlight the problem and promote better behaviour in the countryside and encourage a partnership response.

In response to COVID-19, Defra has developed a ‘Respect the Outdoors’ campaign to encourage people to follow the Countryside Code and to highlight the impacts of littering. We also supported, and provided funding for, Keep Britain Tidy’s Love Parks campaign, which encouraged people to treat our parks with respect. Preliminary evaluation of these campaigns indicates that they had a positive influence on the target audience’s intended disposal of PPE litter, with anecdotal reports from local authorities that the intervention resulted in a markedly beneficial outcome.

Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges facing the marine environment today with plastic pollution found on coastlines accounting for 5% of the plastic that litters the ocean, according to EUNOMIA. Defra funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coast which helps us to monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution across several years. As the majority of ocean plastic pollution originates on land our efforts have focussed on preventing plastic entering the ocean in the first place.