Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 plans to take reduce the public health impact of litter in rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering. They have a range of enforcement tools including fixed penalty notices and prosecution to help them meet their duty to keep public areas clear or litter and rubbish. This Government is considering what further steps are needed to help local authorities tackle litter.
In the meantime, we are tackling two of the more common sources of litter. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.
No assessment has been made of the primary causes of litter in rural communities, the potential impact of litter on public health in rural communities or the potential merits of supporting greater education in schools on littering.
The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Britain Tidy, works with schools to help change littering habits. As part of the programme, in 2023/24 over 100,000 pupils participated in litter picks collecting 27,000 bags of rubbish and delivering over 3,000 litter picks in their communities.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 plans to take to help tackle the sources of littering in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering. They have a range of enforcement tools including fixed penalty notices and prosecution to help them meet their duty to keep public areas clear or litter and rubbish. This Government is considering what further steps are needed to help local authorities tackle litter.
In the meantime, we are tackling two of the more common sources of litter. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.
No assessment has been made of the primary causes of litter in rural communities, the potential impact of litter on public health in rural communities or the potential merits of supporting greater education in schools on littering.
The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Britain Tidy, works with schools to help change littering habits. As part of the programme, in 2023/24 over 100,000 pupils participated in litter picks collecting 27,000 bags of rubbish and delivering over 3,000 litter picks in their communities.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 potential impact of litter on public health in rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering. They have a range of enforcement tools including fixed penalty notices and prosecution to help them meet their duty to keep public areas clear or litter and rubbish. This Government is considering what further steps are needed to help local authorities tackle litter.
In the meantime, we are tackling two of the more common sources of litter. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.
No assessment has been made of the primary causes of litter in rural communities, the potential impact of litter on public health in rural communities or the potential merits of supporting greater education in schools on littering.
The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Britain Tidy, works with schools to help change littering habits. As part of the programme, in 2023/24 over 100,000 pupils participated in litter picks collecting 27,000 bags of rubbish and delivering over 3,000 litter picks in their communities.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 primary causes of litter in rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering. They have a range of enforcement tools including fixed penalty notices and prosecution to help them meet their duty to keep public areas clear or litter and rubbish. This Government is considering what further steps are needed to help local authorities tackle litter.
In the meantime, we are tackling two of the more common sources of litter. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025 and a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers.
No assessment has been made of the primary causes of litter in rural communities, the potential impact of litter on public health in rural communities or the potential merits of supporting greater education in schools on littering.
The Eco-Schools programme, run by Keep Britain Tidy, works with schools to help change littering habits. As part of the programme, in 2023/24 over 100,000 pupils participated in litter picks collecting 27,000 bags of rubbish and delivering over 3,000 litter picks in their communities.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 potential merits of supporting the introduction of bottle deposit schemes in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) other rural communities.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has engaged with stakeholders as we developed policy for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drink containers, including two public consultations: the first in 2019 and the second in 2021. 83% of the 2,590 responses to the 2021 consultation supported a DRS. We also published the Final Impact Assessment on DRS for England and Northern Ireland in November 2024.
The Deposit Management Organisation, who will run the scheme, is legally required to ensure there is a comprehensive returns network, so that rural communities, like Yeovil, can easily redeem their deposits and people have convenient access to a return point wherever they live.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with farmers in (a) Yeovil constituency and (b) south Somerset on the closure of the Sustainable Farming Initiative.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra ministers are engaging with farmers and stakeholders regarding the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). On the SFI, Ministers have met specifically with the NFU, National Beef Association, British Poultry Council, Soil Association, Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, National Pig Association, National Sheep Association, British Egg Industry Council, National Federation of Young Farmers, British Free Range Egg Producers Association, LAA, Tenant Farmers Association and Country, Land and Business Association.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will reconvene the Responsible Dog Ownership Working Group.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra is continuing to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to explore measures to reduce dog attacks and promote responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog. We are currently considering the best way to take forward the Responsible Dog Ownership Taskforce.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish public guidance on the process for withdrawing certificates of exemption for dogs wrongly registered as XL Bullies.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We are currently working to develop a withdrawal scheme so that owners who no longer believe that their dog is an XL Bully can apply to have their certificate of exemption for their dog withdrawn. Information about this process will be available soon.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution by the hon. Member for Yeovil during the Ministerial Statement on Sustainable Farming Incentive on 12 March 2025, if he will visit farmers in Yeovil constituency to discuss this matter.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Secretary of State believes in the importance of continued engagement with the sector and has spoken with several farmers since his appointment. He will be happy to speak to those in the Yeovil Constituency.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
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 plans to take to help improve the (a) coordination and (b) efficiency between (i) Government and (ii) local authority agencies in responding to flash flooding and storms in Somerset.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As discussed when we met earlier this year, protecting communities from flooding is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the devastation the storms this winter have caused to those affected.
The Avon and Somerset Local Resilience Forum brings together organisations involved in preparing, responding and recovering from civil contingency risks, including flooding and storms. This includes the Local Authorities and the Environment Agency. After major events, Local Resilience Forums typically conduct a review to consider if there are changes required.
Somerset residents also benefit from the Somerset Rivers Authority. This brings together all the flood risk management authorities regularly so that the complex nature of flooding can be managed effectively and efficiently. The Regional Flood and Coastal Committee chair attends these meetings ensuring fully integrated public investment in flood risk management.
After any significant flood event in Somerset, flood risk management authorities work together to deliver flood drop-in engagement events for impacted communities and businesses. These events are an opportunity to better understand what happened, what can be done, and to provide support and advice for affected residents.
If there are nationally significant lessons identified from these discussions, they can be submitted to Defra for consideration, including by the Floods Resilience Taskforce.