Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 plans to respond to the statement issued by the European Council on 25 November 2018 that the EU would seek a future fisheries agreement based on existing reciprocal access and quota shares.
Answered by George Eustice
As an independent coastal State, the UK will be leaving the Common Fisheries Policy and will control the resources in our waters. We have made it clear that we will negotiate a new fisheries agreement with the EU providing for annual negotiations on access to waters and a fairer share of fishing opportunities. This is consistent with international law and existing international precedents, such as the EU-Norway fisheries agreement.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 White Paper, The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, publish in July 2018, Cm 9593, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on innovation within UK agriculture of ongoing harmonisation under a common rulebook set out in that white paper.
Answered by George Eustice
Our proposal for a common rulebook, as part of a free trade area for goods, would cover only those rules for products that must be checked at the border. It does not cover other rules where we want regulatory flexibility in order to help our sectors to innovate and flourish. In this regard we have already announced that we will be leaving the Common Agricultural Policy and introducing a new agricultural policy that works in the best interests of land managers in England.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 (a) incineration waste capacity and (b) the effect of waste incineration on the level of recycling.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The latest figures available for incineration capacity are from 2016 for England. These show there is permitted capacity for 11,360,000 tonnes of municipal and/or commercial and industrial waste.
There has been no formal assessment of the effect of waste incineration on the level of recycling. However, the latest published figures on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2016/17 show that the proportion of all local authority waste sent for recycling increased by 0.4 percentage points when compared with 2015/16. The amount of local authority waste sent for incineration increased by 3.5 percentage points between 2015/16 and 2016/17, with a consequent 3.9 percentage point reduction in the proportion of all local authority waste going to landfill over the same period.
Defra is currently looking at the overall capacity that may be needed to deal with England’s waste that remains after recycling and re-use. This analysis is ongoing and does not specifically focus on waste incineration.
We are developing a new resources and waste strategy which will aim to ensure we have the right mix of waste infrastructure that maximises its value as a resource and minimises its environmental impact.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 his Department has made of the effect on the environment of (a) carbon dioxide emissions and (b) other emissions caused by waste incineration and the energy from waste process.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I refer my Rt Hon Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Stroud on 20 November 2017 to PQ 112708.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 (a) incineration waste capacity and (b) the effect of waste incineration on the level of recycling.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The latest figures available for incineration capacity are from 2016 for England. These show there is permitted capacity for 11,360,000 tonnes of municipal and/or commercial and industrial waste.
There has been no formal assessment of the effect of waste incineration on the level of recycling. However, the latest published figures on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2016/17 show that the proportion of all local authority waste sent for recycling increased by 0.4 percentage points when compared with 2015/16. The amount of local authority waste sent for incineration increased by 3.5 percentage points between 2015/16 and 2016/17, with a consequent 3.9 percentage point reduction in the proportion of all local authority waste going to landfill over the same period.
Defra is currently looking at the overall capacity that may be needed to deal with England’s waste that remains after recycling and re-use. This analysis is ongoing and does not specifically focus on waste incineration.
We are developing a new resources and waste strategy which will aim to ensure we have the right mix of waste infrastructure that maximises its value as a resource and minimises its environmental impact.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.
Answered by George Eustice
The changes to regulations affecting business during the 2010-15 Parliament are recorded in Statements of New Regulation that were published every six months. These are available on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/one-in-two-out-statement-of-new-regulation.
For the 2015-17 Parliament, the Government will shortly publish its final report on the savings to business delivered during that Parliament.
For the current Parliament, the Government is committed to maintaining a proportionate approach to regulation to enable business growth while maintaining public protections. This will be monitored through the target that the Government is required to set under the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.