Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 an assessment of the potential impact of raw sewage in inland waterways on levels of (a) antimicrobial and (b) antibiotic resistance in waterborne bacteria networks.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are no plans to perform assessments of possible impacts of raw sewage on levels of antimicrobic substances, and antibiotic resistance in bacterial communities in our surface waters. To do so would require extensive field monitoring, and analytical challenges would need to be robustly addressed to ascertain whether raw sewage discharges in the presence of other sources are responsible for antimicrobial resistance in river bacteria. However, the Environment Agency has been engaged in the cross government PATHSAFE programme to identify the pathways of antimicrobial resistance to humans and if it were decided necessary, the Agency would advise on the practical steps to undertake such assessments.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of (a) antibiotic-resistant and (b) antimicrobial-resistant organisms in waterborne bacteria networks on public health.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have been working with the Environment Agency and the UK Health Security Agency, to trial methods for detecting and quantifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in 3 river catchments in England and to provide example data on their presence and prevalence. The work involved sampling river waters at sites along the length of each river and subject to different land uses and potential sources of resistant bacteria. We expect to publish the results in the summer. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 is taking to monitor the potential (a) presence and (b) spread of (i) antibiotic-resistant and (ii) antimicrobial-resistant organisms that are hazardous to human health in rivers.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have been working with the Environment Agency and the UK Health Security Agency, to trial methods for detecting and quantifying antibiotic resistant bacteria in 3 river catchments in England and to provide example data on their presence and prevalence. The work involved sampling river waters at sites along the length of each river and subject to different land uses and potential sources of resistant bacteria. We expect to publish the results in the summer. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 is taking steps to support obligated businesses that have experienced a significant rise in costs for packaging recycling notes in the final quarter of 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know recent prices increases for glass remelt PRNs have caused challenges for some businesses and have had discussions with both industry and regulators, including the Environment Agency, to understand the causes behind them.
In the past year, as a result of closures related to the pandemic, we have seen less glass collection from hospitality businesses, which is usually higher quality because it is collected separately. Instead, there have been higher collections from households, which often requires additional sorting to make it suitable for remelt, incurring additional cost.
These restrictions on supply will inherently raise the cost of the PRNs under the UK’s market-based system, alongside the end of year compliance pressures.
The Government cannot intervene in the market, but we will continue to monitor the situation and have asked the regulator to keep us informed.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 statistics published in Packaging News on 9 December 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the factors that have led to the price increase from £9.75 in December 2020 to £190.00 in December 2021 of Glass Remelt Packaging Recycling Notes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know recent prices increases for glass remelt PRNs have caused challenges for some businesses and have had discussions with both industry and regulators, including the Environment Agency, to understand the causes behind them.
In the past year, as a result of closures related to the pandemic, we have seen less glass collection from hospitality businesses, which is usually higher quality because it is collected separately. Instead, there have been higher collections from households, which often requires additional sorting to make it suitable for remelt, incurring additional cost.
These restrictions on supply will inherently raise the cost of the PRNs under the UK’s market-based system, alongside the end of year compliance pressures.
The Government cannot intervene in the market, but we will continue to monitor the situation and have asked the regulator to keep us informed.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Environment Agency on the cause of the recent increase in glass Packaging Recycling Notes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know recent prices increases for glass remelt PRNs have caused challenges for some businesses and have had discussions with both industry and regulators, including the Environment Agency, to understand the causes behind them.
In the past year, as a result of closures related to the pandemic, we have seen less glass collection from hospitality businesses, which is usually higher quality because it is collected separately. Instead, there have been higher collections from households, which often requires additional sorting to make it suitable for remelt, incurring additional cost.
These restrictions on supply will inherently raise the cost of the PRNs under the UK’s market-based system, alongside the end of year compliance pressures.
The Government cannot intervene in the market, but we will continue to monitor the situation and have asked the regulator to keep us informed.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 his Department's press release entitled Red tape cut for wine imports to save British wine lovers £130m a year, published on 25 July, what his timescale is for implementing the removal the requirement for VI-1 certificates on all imports of wine into Great Britain.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
On 25 July, the Government announced its intention to remove the requirement of VI-1 certification for all wine imports entering Great Britain. The removal of this barrier will cut unnecessary red tape for importers from both the EU and Rest of the World. This is great news for businesses and consumers, who will now see a significant trade burden lifted, which will ultimately lead to a reduction in the cost of wine. Industry analysis suggests that on average VI-1 certificates add 10p to every bottle of imported wine; British wine consumers can expect to save up to £130 million each year.
We are taking the necessary steps to begin the implementation process. On 9 September, we launched the consultation process for the removal for businesses who are directly impacted by the change. Once we have completed the consultation, we will then look to ensure that the necessary legislation is put in place as soon as possible.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Work and Pensions, on the effect on the food redistribution sector of his Department's decision to award £16 million of emergency funding in May 2020 and an additional £16 million Winter Support Grant in December 2020 to food redistribution charities; and what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effectiveness of that funding.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
From the May 2020 funding of £16 million, £1.8 million is supporting over 100 not-for-profit organisations to carry out key redistribution activities such as storage and repackaging and redistributing to charities and/or end beneficiaries through the Covid-19 emergency food surplus redistribution programme. This programme is administered on behalf of Defra by the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) and is focused on preventing surplus food from becoming waste.
In addition, the Government has put in place a winter package to support the economically vulnerable. This package includes a £170 million Covid Winter Support Grant distributed by the Department for Work and Pensions to local authorities to support households with food and other costs, and £16 million of funding for Defra to support charities with food distribution to the vulnerable, which is being managed by the food redistributor FareShare.
After eight weeks of the £16 million grant scheme, the equivalent of 6.8 million meals have been distributed to 3,449 organisations across England. FareShare and Defra staff meet weekly for performance reviews, where FareShare presents delivery statistics against key performance indicators set at the start of the scheme.
Frequent discussions are ongoing at ministerial and official level to support this and wider work linked to this scheme.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 June 2020 to Written Question 60862, if he will commit to undertaking an impact assessment on the decision to require import certificates on wine from 1 January 2021 on (a) UK wine exporters, (b) UK wine importers, (c) UK wine consumers and (d) the hospitality industry.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will transfer existing EU wine regulations, including import certification requirements, onto the UK statute book. This will mean that EU wines will become subject to the same import requirements as wine arriving from countries like Australia, USA, Chile and South Africa, which currently account for 50% of wine on UK shelves. There are no plans to carry out an impact assessment of what this change will mean for EU wine imports or to estimate the effect it will have on Exchequer receipts. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has estimated that the cost of fulfilling new import certification arrangements would add approximately 10 pence to each bottle of EU wine, which equates to less than a 2% increase on an average priced wine.
Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)
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 June 2020 to Question 60862, what estimate he has made of the revenue to the Exchequer resulting from the decision to roll over EU import VI-1 certificates for wine.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 will transfer existing EU wine regulations, including import certification requirements, onto the UK statute book. This will mean that EU wines will become subject to the same import requirements as wine arriving from countries like Australia, USA, Chile and South Africa, which currently account for 50% of wine on UK shelves. There are no plans to carry out an impact assessment of what this change will mean for EU wine imports or to estimate the effect it will have on Exchequer receipts. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has estimated that the cost of fulfilling new import certification arrangements would add approximately 10 pence to each bottle of EU wine, which equates to less than a 2% increase on an average priced wine.