Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of Incinerator Bottom Ash Aggregate as a sustainable aggregate.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency considers incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA) to be a waste. The Environment Agency considered issues such as IBAA being used in place of virgin aggregate, and its use avoiding the need to landfill, along with economic impacts, when deciding whether to have a regulatory position statement (RPS). The Environment Agency has carried out a pollution risk assessment of the use of IBAA, and is satisfied that it does not pose a significant risk to people or the environment when it is used under the conditions of the RPS.
The RPS is still active, and can be viewed here. A copy is attached to this answer.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what has been the number of prosecutions for fly tipping by local authorities in each of the last five years; and what has been the success rate of any such prosecutions.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The total number of prosecutions for fly-tipping offences by local authorities in England, as well as the proportion that were successful, over the last five years are shown in the table below.
Year | Total number of prosecutions | Number of successful prosecutions | % of successful prosecutions |
2014/15 | 1,810 | 1,771 | 97.8% |
2015/16 | 2,203 | 2,091 | 94.9% |
2016/17 | 1,571 | 1,546 | 98.4% |
2017/18 | 2,243 | 2,186 | 97.5% |
2018/19 | 2,397 | 2,306 | 96.2% |
This information is published as part of the annual Fly-tipping Statistics for England, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of current legislation relating to fly tipping in (1) urban, and (2) rural, areas.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
In its manifesto, the Government committed to increase the penalties for fly-tipping. Fly-tipping is unacceptable whether it occurs in urban or rural areas and tackling this crime is a priority for the Government. Existing legislative and regulatory controls are the same for both urban and rural areas. Tackling fly-tipping requires a local approach, tailored to the characteristics of the area and the community in which the problem occurs. We are committed to encouraging local solutions for local problems and the role of central Government is to enable and support this local action: providing a clear legal framework of rights, responsibilities and powers, setting national standards and, where possible, making sure that the costs of dealing with fly-tipping is passed to those responsible for causing the problem.
The Resources and Waste Strategy, published in 2018, set out an ambitious package of commitments to modernise the way waste is regulated, to prevent, detect and deter waste crime, including fly-tipping. Defra is subsequently preparing a number of legislative reforms to tackle waste crime, including fly-tipping. We are taking forward the commitment in the Strategy to develop proposals for the reform of the waste carrier, broker and dealer regime. We are working with industry and the regulator and we intend to consult later this year. At the same time, we intend to consult on the introduction of mandatory electronic waste tracking. This will reduce the ability of waste criminals to hide evidence of the systematic mishandling of waste and make it easier for enforcement authorities to identify material dropping out of the system, and therefore make it easier to protect against fly-tipping. The reforms aim to improve competence in waste transportation and deter illegitimate operators from entering the sector. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and to reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.
The Environment Bill provides a significant step forward in delivering a number of the commitments set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy. The newly introduced Bill amends section 108 of the Environment Act 1995 to make it easier for an officer to search premises to seize and remove documentary or other evidence. The new power does not require a warrant if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that first obtaining a warrant would allow for evidence to be concealed, altered or destroyed. Further to this, Schedule 11 of the Environment Bill removes the seven-day notice period required before powers of entry can be used to access residential premises. The current seven-day notice requirement enables, for example, rogue waste carriers who operate from their home address rather than a business address, to destroy evidence. These new powers will work to ensure waste criminals, such as illegitimate waste operators reliant on fly-tipping for income, are held accountable for their actions.
In recent years we have bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, including introducing fixed penalty notices of up to £400 for those who give their waste to fly-tippers, or fly-tip themselves. We have also enhanced the powers available to local authorities and the Environment Agency to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
As well as legislative changes, Defra is developing a fly-tipping toolkit, following a commitment in the Resources and Waste Strategy. The toolkit will be a web-based tool to help local authorities and others work in partnership to tackle fly-tipping. It will cover, for example, the use of new technology to report fly-tipping, the presentation of cases to court, the sharing of intelligence within and between partnerships and promoting the duty of care to individuals and businesses.
Furthermore, as the majority of fly-tips involve household waste (62% in 2018/19), we published a research project on public awareness of and adherence to the household waste duty of care in August 2019. At the same time, we published related publicity materials. The materials have been provided to the Local Government Association to circulate to local authorities. They are also available on the website of National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, which is chaired by Defra: http://www.tacklingflytipping.com. By limiting the material given to fly-tippers and using appropriately licenced waste carriers, everyone can play their part in reducing fly-tipping incidents.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their policy on the labelling of meat from the non-stun slaughter of animals.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government encourages the highest standards of welfare at slaughter, would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, and also respects the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs.
There are no domestic or European Regulations that require the labelling of Halal or Kosher meat, but where any information of this nature is provided it must be accurate and must not be misleading to the consumer. The Government expects industry to provide consumers with the necessary information for them to make an informed choice about their food.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures will be in place to ensure that (1) eggs, and (2) egg products, imported into the UK after the UK leaves the EU meet the same environmental and animal welfare standards that are adhered to currently.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government shares the British public’s high regard for the environment and for animal welfare, and our current import requirements for eggs and for egg products will continue to apply when we leave the EU.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what trade protections will be in place on (1) egg, and (2) egg product, imports from countries outside the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government recognises the importance of eggs as an affordable and nutritious food for UK consumers. The UK egg industry has led the way in promoting high welfare standards, which the Government is committed to maintaining along with our existing high food standards for all imports.
If the UK leaves the EU without a deal on 12 April a temporary tariff regime would apply to all UK imports from countries with which no trading arrangement is in place, including the EU.
In setting that temporary regime the Government has sought to strike a balance between the impacts on consumers and producers. No duty would apply to eggs or egg products.
The temporary tariff policy would only apply for up to 12 months. During the 12 month period, the Government will work with industry and remain responsive to businesses and consumers. We will consider exceptional changes where clear evidence is provided against the criteria set out by the five principles of the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.
After this, the Government intends to introduce a long term tariff regime. This would be developed over the course of the next 12 months following an appropriate public consultation process with interested stakeholders, including the egg sector.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the progress made to date in combatting fly tipping.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping. In recent years we have ensured that local authorities have the necessary powers to tackle fly-tipping. We have given local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping and enhanced local authorities’ and the Environment Agency’s ability to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.
Earlier this year we also consulted on giving local authorities and the Environment Agency the power to issue fixed penalty notices to householders who fail in their duty of care and pass their waste to fly-tippers. A further announcement will follow later this year. We will also support local authorities in raising householders’ awareness of their duty of care and update the Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice to inform householders better about how to ensure their waste is disposed of properly.
As part of the Government’s Resource and Waste Strategy (due to be published before the end of the year), we are developing a strategic approach to waste crime. This will include further measures to tackle fly-tipping, including enhancing local-level partnership working and working with the court system to strengthen sentences to act as an effective deterrent.
Defra annually publishes fly-tipping statistics for England. The statistics for 2016/17 showed local authorities dealt with 1,002,000 fly-tipping incidents. The statistics for 2017/18 will be published on Thursday 15 November.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to include in any deposit charge scheme for plastic bottles, plastic packaging boxes such as those used by fast food outlets.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra does not intend to include plastic packaging boxes, such as those used by fast food outlets, in a deposit return scheme. Our intention is to introduce a deposit return scheme in England specifically for single use drinks containers, subject to consultation later this year.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to extend the badger cull to (1) Staffordshire, (2) Shropshire, and (3) Derbyshire; and if so, to which areas in those counties.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Should they wish, farmers and landowners across the bovine TB High Risk Area and Edge Area of England, which includes Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire, are able to apply to Natural England for licences to kill or take badgers for the purpose of preventing the spread of bovine TB, as set out under section 10(2)(a) of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. Applicants need to meet the licensing criteria and demonstrate that they will be able to deliver safe and effective operations in order to be authorised to proceed, as set out in the Guidance to Natural England, which can be found on gov.uk at the following link:
Farmers in a number of areas have signalled their intention to submit applications to Natural England for licences to conduct badger culls this year. Licensing decisions are a matter for Natural England.
Asked by: Earl of Shrewsbury (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what remedies are available to local authorities against fly tippers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The estimated cost of clearance of fly-tipping to local authorities in 2014/15 was nearly £50 million. Local authorities dealt with nearly 900,000 incidents of fly-tipping in 2014/15, with nearly two thirds of fly-tips involving household waste.
The penalties for fly-tipping are imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine, or both, on summary conviction; or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine, or both, on conviction on indictment.
In May 2016 the Government gave local councils the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for small-scale fly-tipping as an alternative to prosecution. The fine for a Fixed Penalty Notice is between £150 and £400 as specified by the waste collection authority, and £200 if no amount is specified.
Local authorities are not under any legal obligation to clear fly-tipped waste from private property, so this responsibility falls to the landowner. Depending on the circumstances, local authorities will often provide advice and guidance on measures that can be taken to prevent further fly-tipping, or may investigate an incident if there is sufficient evidence. Some authorities may also offer a clearance service but they are likely to charge for this. Government officials chair the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.