Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 plans to introduce changes to the Packaging Recovery Note system to strengthen producer responsibility before the publication of its Resources and Waste Strategy.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have committed in our 25 Year Environment Plan and Clean Growth Strategy to reforming our producer responsibility systems (including the packaging waste regulations) so that producers will take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.
We plan to consult on these reforms alongside publication of the Resources and Waste Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to consult on reforming the Packaging Recovery Note system.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We have committed to exploring changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme, as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan that we issued in January. More detail will be announced in the Resources and Waste Strategy, which will be published later this year.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 horticultural and agricultural sector leaders in Cornwall on demand for seasonal workers after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Seasonal workers make an important contribution to our agriculture and horticulture industries. That is why Defra has been working closely with the horticulture and agriculture sector to better understand both their current and longer term labour market requirements. This includes regular meetings with national representative organisations covering agricultural and horticultural businesses across the whole of the UK. I attended the Seasonal Workforce Working Group myself in autumn 2017 where we discussed the latest position on the seasonal agricultural workforce. As the Member of Parliament for Camborne, Redruth & Hayle, I also have regular meetings with my farming constituents. Maintaining access to a sufficient supply of labour as we leave the EU remains a key priority.
The Government is carefully considering options for our future immigration policy and keeps its position on seasonal labour under close review.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 upgrade the sewage system and phase out combined sewers.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Sewerage undertakers have duties to provide, maintain and improve a public sewer system to effectually drain their area. The Government’s draft strategic policy statement to Ofwat makes it clear that we expect the regulator to challenge sewerage undertakers to improve planning and investment to meet the wastewater needs of current and future customers, while protecting the environment.
Sewerage undertakers must identify solutions that are most effective to carry out their duties. Replacing combined sewers can be part of the solution; elsewhere doing this would be prohibitively expensive. We continue to work with the industry to make sure that sewer overflows that remain an unavoidable part of such systems in extreme conditions are properly controlled. In particular:
Mandating monitoring of the vast majority of overflows by 2020 so their performance is understood, allowing water users and customers to hold water companies to account.
Introducing frequency triggers to permits for overflows associated with bathing and shellfish waters from 2017. This should ensure that, as pressures on sewer systems increase, their performance does not deteriorate.
Working collaboratively with the industry group 21st Century Drainage to develop tools to adequately address the highest spilling overflows.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
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 protect and enhance the marine environment.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Our vision is for our seas to be clean, safe, healthy, biologically diverse and productive. To achieve this we are working nationally and internationally to protect the marine environment. The UK demonstrated international leadership at the recent UN Ocean Conference and OSPAR Commission meeting. Marine protected areas around the UK and the Overseas Territories further demonstrate our commitment to protecting marine biodiversity.
Asked by: Steve Double (Conservative - St Austell and Newquay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding she plans to provide to National Trails England in each year to 2020.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Natural England will provide funding of £1.8 million for the national trails in England in 2017/18. Natural England is committed to finding a secure future for national trails. Future levels of funding for 2018/19 and 2019/2020 and how best to secure future funding will be part of the discussions Natural England is currently holding with the National Trail Partnerships.