Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he is making on banning the use of wild animals in circuses by 19 January 2020.
Answered by David Rutley
I refer the honourable member to the answer given to the honourable member for Oxford West and Abingdon on 16 October 2018 to question 176633.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2018 to Question 165481, what the outcomes were of his recent meeting with the Nappy Alliance; and if he or other Ministers of his Department will meet with the Nappy Alliance again to learn more about reusable nappy products.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Reusable nappies make a valuable contribution to reducing residual waste that has to be disposed of to landfill or incineration. Officials from Defra’s waste and recycling team met representatives from the Nappy Alliance on 13 June. They discussed the benefits of reusable nappies in the context of single-use plastic and reducing waste. There are no plans for further meetings.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 make it his policy to support the use of reusable nappies and their effect on removing plastics from the residual waste stream.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government is determined to achieve zero avoidable plastic waste and will set out our policies and proposed actions in our Resources and Waste Strategy published later this year. To inform this, Defra officials have recently met the Nappy Alliance which supports the use of reusable nappies, and I have met with Proctor & Gamble to learn about their disposable nappy recycling technology.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for setting up a UK chemicals agency in the event that the UK cannot remain part of the European Chemicals Agency after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Rutley
One of Defra’s 40 workstreams preparing for leaving the EU is developing, and includes a new system to enable registration and regulation of chemical substances placed on the UK market if access to the EU’s REACH system is not available.
The plans we are working on set out detailed delivery timelines for activities such as: recruiting and training new staff, designing and procuring IT systems and delivery of the necessary legislative and regulatory changes. These timelines are extensively reviewed to ensure we remain on track.
The Government’s priority is to maintain an effective regulatory system for managing and controlling chemicals to safeguard human health and the environment, responding to emerging risks and allowing trade with the EU that is as smooth as possible. The Withdrawal Bill will convert current EU law into domestic law wherever practical, giving consumers and businesses as much certainty as possible. This includes laws relating to chemicals.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made an assessment of the effect of the ban on disposable plastic straws on disabled people.
Answered by David Rutley
A recent study indicated that up to 8.5 billion plastic straws are used and thrown away annually in the UK. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April, the Prime Minister announced that subject to a consultation to be launched by Defra later this year, there will be a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in England. We will also propose excluding plastic straws for medical reasons. Policy proposals will be subject to an impact assessment.
Defra is in the process of developing the Consultation and as part of that, we are keen that we get the exemption and the overall approach absolutely right. We are aware that there are a number of vital uses for plastics straws for both elderly and disabled people, which is why we made clear the need for an exemption from the outset.
We are reaching out to all stakeholders in general, including Devolved Administrations but in particular, disability charities and other groups to talk through the policy implications and ensure their concerns are addressed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 representatives of disability charities on banning disposable plastic straws.
Answered by David Rutley
A recent study indicated that up to 8.5 billion plastic straws are used and thrown away annually in the UK. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April, the Prime Minister announced that subject to a consultation to be launched by Defra later this year, there will be a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in England. We will also propose excluding plastic straws for medical reasons. Policy proposals will be subject to an impact assessment.
Defra is in the process of developing the Consultation and as part of that, we are keen that we get the exemption and the overall approach absolutely right. We are aware that there are a number of vital uses for plastics straws for both elderly and disabled people, which is why we made clear the need for an exemption from the outset.
We are reaching out to all stakeholders in general, including Devolved Administrations but in particular, disability charities and other groups to talk through the policy implications and ensure their concerns are addressed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what impact assessments his Department undertook in relation to disabled people in advance of the decision to ban disposable plastic straws.
Answered by David Rutley
A recent study indicated that up to 8.5 billion plastic straws are used and thrown away annually in the UK. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April, the Prime Minister announced that subject to a consultation to be launched by Defra later this year, there will be a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in England. We will also propose excluding plastic straws for medical reasons. Policy proposals will be subject to an impact assessment.
Defra is in the process of developing the Consultation and as part of that, we are keen that we get the exemption and the overall approach absolutely right. We are aware that there are a number of vital uses for plastics straws for both elderly and disabled people, which is why we made clear the need for an exemption from the outset.
We are reaching out to all stakeholders in general, including Devolved Administrations but in particular, disability charities and other groups to talk through the policy implications and ensure their concerns are addressed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
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 the Welsh Government on the introduction of a ban on plastic disposable straws.
Answered by David Rutley
A recent study indicated that up to 8.5 billion plastic straws are used and thrown away annually in the UK. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April, the Prime Minister announced that subject to a consultation to be launched by Defra later this year, there will be a ban on the sale of plastic straws, drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds in England. We will also propose excluding plastic straws for medical reasons. Policy proposals will be subject to an impact assessment.
Defra is in the process of developing the Consultation and as part of that, we are keen that we get the exemption and the overall approach absolutely right. We are aware that there are a number of vital uses for plastics straws for both elderly and disabled people, which is why we made clear the need for an exemption from the outset.
We are reaching out to all stakeholders in general, including Devolved Administrations but in particular, disability charities and other groups to talk through the policy implications and ensure their concerns are addressed.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the new departmental site in Victoria Dock, Caernarfon is owned by the Government or is rented property.
Answered by George Eustice
Although commercial offices at Victoria Dock were considered as part of an options appraisal for the relocation of Defra staff based in Caernarfon, the decision has been made to relocate to Gwynedd Council’s offices at Penrallt.
All staff currently located in the Welsh Government offices at North Penrallt will relocate to the Council offices.