Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with food producers on reducing the amount of packaging used for food and drink products.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra officials recently met with Iceland’s Managing Director to discuss their plan to eliminate plastic in their own brands by 2023.
Last December the Secretary of State chaired a roundtable with representatives from across the plastic sector to discuss reducing the amount of packaging produced and increasing the level of recycling.
In November I also wrote to a number of major retailers to ask about their packaging choices for specific products.
There has been no specific engagement with the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 is taking to increase recycling rates among local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Trends in recycling rates are routinely monitored through the preparation of the annual local authority waste statistics and would form part of the standard quality assurance checks associated with these statistics. In the most recent published waste statistics release, the England ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 44.9% in 2016, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the 2015 rate of 44.3%. This rate has remained relatively stable over the last five years.
Local authorities are best placed to deliver the recycling services in their area and, with householders, have played a key role in increasing England’s recycling rate to the 44.9% I have mentioned. The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our commitment to make it even easier for people to recycle and increase the quantity and quality of materials collected and further detail will be set out in the resources and waste strategy that will be published later this year. Through the Framework for Greater Consistency, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is working with industry and local authorities to ensure that a consistent set of core materials are collected by all local authorities. WRAP provides valuable tools and resources to support local councils to improve their services. Guidance includes food waste collections, cutting contamination and approaches to material sales.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in recycling rates in England.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Trends in recycling rates are routinely monitored through the preparation of the annual local authority waste statistics and would form part of the standard quality assurance checks associated with these statistics. In the most recent published waste statistics release, the England ‘waste from households’ recycling rate was 44.9% in 2016, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the 2015 rate of 44.3%. This rate has remained relatively stable over the last five years.
Local authorities are best placed to deliver the recycling services in their area and, with householders, have played a key role in increasing England’s recycling rate to the 44.9% I have mentioned. The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our commitment to make it even easier for people to recycle and increase the quantity and quality of materials collected and further detail will be set out in the resources and waste strategy that will be published later this year. Through the Framework for Greater Consistency, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is working with industry and local authorities to ensure that a consistent set of core materials are collected by all local authorities. WRAP provides valuable tools and resources to support local councils to improve their services. Guidance includes food waste collections, cutting contamination and approaches to material sales.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 is taking to reduce the use of paper by (a) Government Departments and (b) non-executive agencies.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) require central Government Departments and their executive and non-executive agencies to improve their waste management by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill to less than 10%; continuing to reduce the overall amount of waste generated and increasing the proportion which is recycled; and reducing their paper use by at least 50% from a 2009/10 baseline.
Compared with the 2009/10 baseline, by 2015/16 Departments had reduced their overall waste by 27% and their paper consumption by 44%. The proportion of waste sent to landfill in 2015/16 had been reduced to 13% across Government. The target to increase recycling was introduced for the 2016/17 financial year, and this data will be published shortly in the 2016/17 Annual Report on the GGCs, along with 2016/17 figures for the other GGC goals.
Departments are responsible for making decisions about how to achieve these goals in line with the priorities of their own functions, but their performance is reported annually in the Annual Report on the GGCs. Defra and Cabinet Office Ministers follow up any significant issues with performance with individual Departments.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 is taking to increase recycling rates across (a) Government Departments and (b) non-executive agencies.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) require central Government Departments and their executive and non-executive agencies to improve their waste management by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill to less than 10%; continuing to reduce the overall amount of waste generated and increasing the proportion which is recycled; and reducing their paper use by at least 50% from a 2009/10 baseline.
Compared with the 2009/10 baseline, by 2015/16 Departments had reduced their overall waste by 27% and their paper consumption by 44%. The proportion of waste sent to landfill in 2015/16 had been reduced to 13% across Government. The target to increase recycling was introduced for the 2016/17 financial year, and this data will be published shortly in the 2016/17 Annual Report on the GGCs, along with 2016/17 figures for the other GGC goals.
Departments are responsible for making decisions about how to achieve these goals in line with the priorities of their own functions, but their performance is reported annually in the Annual Report on the GGCs. Defra and Cabinet Office Ministers follow up any significant issues with performance with individual Departments.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 effect of regulatory costs on the veterinary sector.
Answered by George Eustice
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is responsible for regulating the veterinary sector in accordance with the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. The College levies a registration and annual retention fee, currently £314; and recovers disciplinary costs. In 2016 the total cost to the sector was £7,407,338 for registration and retention fees and £9776 for recovery of disciplinary costs.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
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 effectiveness of regulation of the animal grooming sector.
Answered by George Eustice
In our review of animal activity licensing by local authorities we considered bringing certain activities not currently subject to licensing into the licensing system including dog grooming salons. We invited evidence from stakeholders of significant issues with this sector that could not be resolved through action under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and no evidence has been made available. It remains the case that any concerns about a particular animal grooming salon should be reported to the relevant local authority who have powers to investigate such matters under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Regulations updating and strengthening the licensing controls on dog breeding, pet sales and other specific activities involving animals will be laid in Parliament in the New Year.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the economic value of the veterinary sector.
Answered by George Eustice
The Veterinary Profession plays a vital role in protecting animal health and welfare, safeguarding public health and ensuring food safety and enabling trade in animals and animal products. However, the overall economic value of the sector has not been calculated but its positive contribution to national life is recognised.
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of veterinary surgeons being trained in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Eustice
For 2014-2015 there were 5016 veterinary students attending a veterinary degree course at the 7 approved UK veterinary schools, in 2015-16 there were 5053 and for 2016-2017 there were 5185. (Source Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons)
Asked by: Justin Tomlinson (Conservative - North Swindon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of veterinary nurses being trained in the UK in each of the last three years.
Answered by George Eustice
The Department does not have figures concerning the number of veterinary nursing students in each of those years but in 2014/15 there were 1039 UK graduates entering the veterinary nursing profession and registering with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (Veterinary Nurses) Register, and similarly in 2015/16 there 1036 entering the UK register (Source RCVS)