Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what R&D support his Department provides to small- and medium-sized enterprises for innovation in packaging.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
This Government is building a globally competitive sustainable packaging industry through research and innovation. As confirmed on Monday 22 July 2019, the Department will provide up to £60 million, bolstered by an expected £149m investment from the private sector, to establish the UK as the world’s leading innovator in smart sustainable plastic packaging.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support his Department provides to local authorities for investment in waste and recycling facilities.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Government has provided local government with over £200 billion for this spending period and while councils make their own spending decisions, we would expect councils to prioritise what they do to deliver what their residents want to see and to invest in waste and recycling facilities as necessary to ensure good waste management practice.
The Government is also investing around £3 billion of grant funding in 24 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) waste infrastructure projects. These grants support infrastructure including material recovery, mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities, as well as implementing and expanding kerbside recycling services.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the cost to the public purse of the introduction of separate food waste collections throughout England.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In the supporting impact assessment to our consultation on consistency in recycling, we modelled three scenarios on how that policy could be delivered, all including separate food waste collection. In the preferred option of that impact assessment (option 3, which for local authorities includes weekly separate food waste, free garden waste, weekly dry multi-stream recycling and fortnightly residual waste collections) the overall cost to the public purse is estimated to be just under £260 million a year between 2023-2035.
This comprises: local authority initial costs and subsequent savings; lost revenue to the Exchequer from local authority and business waste diverted away from landfill; lost garden waste income to local authorities; and policy costs to Government in supporting waste collection changes to municipal business.
The full impact assessment is available from the following link: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/consultation-on-consistency-in-household-and-busin/supporting_documents/recycleconsistencyconsultia.pdf
We will refine our analysis based on consultation feedback and engagement with the sector.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what funding the Government plans to allocate to the modernisation of the UK steel industry.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Department commissioned independent research to identify high value opportunities for UK steel, worth up to £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We have made clear to the sector that we are keen to work with them to support their future investment proposals to secure these future opportunities as part of a steel sector deal. We stand ready to work with the sector as soon as their proposals are ready.
In addition to this, we have been encouraging the UK steel sector to submit competitive proposals for UKRI funds, including Transforming Foundation Industries, and work with us to shape future funding programmes, such as the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, to further improve their efficiency and competitiveness.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has made available to waste disposal authorities for the prevention of methane emissions from closed landfill sites.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
No funding has been made available by the Department to disposal authorities for the prevention of methane emissions from closed landfill sites.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much revenue has been raised from fines for fly-tipping in the last five years.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Over the last five years fines totalling £3,332,214 have been levied by the courts in England on offenders convicted of fly-tipping offences prosecuted by local authorities.
Further detailed data about fly-tipping, including fines, in England is publicly available at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fly-tipping-in-england.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what financial support was available to re-useable nappy schemes in each year since 2005.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Department does not hold this information.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many local waste collection authorities own arms-length commercial waste collection services.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We do not record this information.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to tackle agricultural plastic pollution.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
I refer the Hon. Member to the reply given to the Hon. Member for Delyn, David Hanson, on 1 July 2019, PQ 268406.
Asked by: Sandy Martin (Labour - Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been spent on tackling waste crime in the last five years.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In tackling waste crime the Environment Agency has spent: (in millions)
£13.4m in 2013/14
£11.2m in 2014/15
£11.4m in 2015/16
£10.8m in 2016/17
£10.7m in 2017/18
Data for 2018/19 has not yet been released.