Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 set out the procurement mechanism used by the Environment Agency to award the contract for the Environment Agency Community Engagement Platform (National) 2024 to Hello Lamp Post Limited; and if he will publish the procurement agreement.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The contract is available on contracts finder via Environment Agency Community Engagement Platform (National) 2024 - Contracts Finder.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 the Hello Lamp Post community engagement project (a) since January 2024, (b) by financial year and (c) by delivery phase.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the value of engaging with citizens to collect and share the latest scientific data about the environment. The Environment Agency (EA) has joined forces with Hello Lamp Post to enable residents and visitors of communities across England to interact with them about key environmental issues and risks.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 17 April 2025 to Question 44040 on Packaging: Recycling and with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, updated on 21 May 2025, if he will clarify the circumstances in which the Environment Agency will issue fines for contaminated recyclable waste; and whether the level of a fine to a business will be affected by previous fines issued.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All compliance and enforcement activities are conducted in line with the Regulator’s Code and the Environment Agency’s Enforcement and Sanction Policy to ensure a proportionate, risk-based approach.
When contamination of workplace recyclables is suspected, the Environment Agency’s initial intervention is usually is to provide advice and guidance, as set out in Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England guidance updated on 21 May 2025. The Environment Agency does not possess powers to issue on the spot fines or fixed penalty notices and financial sanctions arise only via prosecution. Formal action, such as serving a compliance notice, however, is only likely to occur if advice and guidance is ignored.
The level of any fine will not be adjusted on the basis of previous fines issued, as sentencing follows standard judicial criteria including the seriousness of the offence and culpability of the offender. The Government remains committed to supporting businesses in meeting their recycling obligations whilst safeguarding the quality of recyclable materials.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 relevant stakeholders on the requirement for schools to serve (a) meat and (b) dairy products to children.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Secretary of State has had no discussions with stakeholders on the requirements for schools to serve meat and dairy products to children, which is a matter for the Department for Education together with the Department of Health and Social Care. To ensure quality and nutrition in meals for the future, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are acting quickly with experts across the sector to revise the school food standards, so every school is supported with the latest nutrition guidance.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 3 June 2025 to Question 53757 on Beverage Containers: Recycling, whether UK-based beverage manufacturers can accept used recyclable containers of (a) their own products and (b) other manufacturers' products to offset their Extended Producer Responsibility levy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The packaging EPR Regulations allow, in some circumstances, packaging collected by producers from consumers, and subsequently recycled, to be offset against their disposal fee obligations. These are currently limited to hard to recycle packaging (e.g. plastic film take back) which is not collected in local authority household waste kerbside collection.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 8 April 2025 to Question 43345 on WRAP: Finance, if he will provide the hyperlink to the grant agreement .
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The grant agreement contains commercially sensitive information and will not be published. Details of the grant will be published on the Grants register held at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-data-and-statistics. This information is published retrospectively with data for the 2024/25 grant published later this year. Details of the 2025/26 grant will be published in 2026.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned on the potential role of insect protein in (a) animal and (b) human diets in the last ten years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Defra’s scientific research is exploring ways to reduce environmental impacts of livestock production, including research to better understand the role of insect protein in pig and poultry feed (not human diets) in addressing this aim. Examples include a scientific review of the opportunities for the inclusion of insect protein in pig and poultry feed within the UK (2021). Research also considered insect-based proteins (for food and feed), as part of a wider review of alternative proteins (2022). A life-cycle assessment of UK insect protein production compared the environmental impacts of insect, soy and fishmeal protein production for animal feeds in the UK (2023).
Defra has also committed funding via the Farming Innovation Programme and Farming Innovation Pathways for projects looking at insect protein in animal feed, including a themed competition addressing on farm protein.
The FSA report on the ‘The Future of Animal Feed’ was published in April 2023. The report analysed the production and supply of protein for the global livestock sector, focusing on the potential opportunities, and threats, of alternative feeds.
Under food law, it is the responsibility of food businesses to ensure food is safe. Edible insects, as novel foods, need authorisation from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), which requires provision of a safety case. Food businesses wanting an authorisation will develop the research and evidence to demonstrate the food is safe for consumption.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Extended Producer Responsibility is a tax.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) decides the classification of taxes, while the Office of Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) determines how they are treated in fiscal forecasts. In earlier fiscal events OBR have treated pEPR fees as adjustment to departmental budgets as “there was previously not enough detail on the fees for this to be reflected as a tax in our receipts forecast”.
The OBR determination is a technical classification that has no effect on pEPR policy.
This technical classification does not affect the distribution of revenue to local authorities. Revenue from pEPR will be distributed directly by PackUK, the scheme administrator, to local authorities.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 8 April 2025 to Question 43343 on Domestic Waste: Recycling and Waste Disposal, if he will publish that guidance.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
WRAP, supported by Defra, and with input from local authorities, recently published Good Practice Guidance to help local authorities deliver quality waste and recycling services to citizens in England. Further guidance topics, including on residual waste collection, are intended to be published shortly.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 Extended Producer Responsibility measures in relation to glass on the cost of a (a) bottled beer and (b) pint of beer in a pub.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. This impact assessment did not split the assessment by sector.
On 20 December 2024 Defra published the third version of pEPR illustrative base fees for year 1 ahead of PackUK releasing formal communications in June 2025. Base fees, to invoice producers from October 2025, are expected to be calculated in June 2025 using data reported by producers for the full year of 2024. Fees will apply to bottled beer, but not a pint of beer served in a pub as this is served without packaging.
The Government has worked closely with industry, including the glass sector, throughout development of pEPR and developing the methodology for base fees. Feedback from stakeholders was factored into finalising the regulations, including formally consulting stakeholders on a draft of the pEPR regulations in 2023.