Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 adequacy of the (a) training and (b) certification of technicians in the use of alternative products during the planned transition away from fluorinated gases.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are industry-led training courses already available on the use of alternative refrigerant gases. As noted in the Defra assessment report of December 2022 on the impact of the current Regulation on fluorinated gases, some industry stakeholders have suggested that mandatory training should be introduced for alternatives with flammability, toxicity and high-pressure properties. We are reviewing the provisions of the Regulation and intend to consult on proposals for change in due course.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 publish a revised response to the consultation on Improved food waste reporting by large food businesses.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government consulted on improved food waste reporting by large businesses in England and published a response in July 2023. The new Secretary of State has however decided to look again at how best to secure the benefits of food waste reporting, including mandatory measures for large businesses. We now intend to gather further evidence and re-consider all the options using the latest available data in order to retake the decision later this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 introduce mandatory food waste reporting for (a) large and (b) medium sized businesses.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State decided in November 2023 to look again at how best to secure the benefits of food waste reporting for large businesses. We now intend to gather further evidence and re-consider all options in the 2022 consultation, including mandatory reporting, using the latest available data. We expect to make the decision later this year.
Medium sized businesses (MSBs) are not under consideration for mandatory reporting approach. MSBs are supported to report voluntarily, including through the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap and the Guardians of Grub programme, which provide guidance to businesses of all sizes on tackling food waste.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 guidance entitled Waste collection services: guidance for local authorities, published on 23 July 2021, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing statutory guidance for local authorities on sorting waste materials.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recently consulted on the content of the statutory guidance for Simpler Recycling. We will publish our final statutory guidance once the regulations relating to Simpler Recycling have been made.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on the impact of subsidies to the anaerobic digestion industry on the sale of surplus food to charitable organisations.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra and DESNZ officials continue to work closely to coordinate anaerobic digestion (AD) policy, working with ministers where required.
The Green Gas Support Scheme (GGSS) launched in 2021, provides tariff-support for biomethane produced via AD and injected into the gas grid. Under the GGSS, at least 50% of all biomethane (by energy content) must be produced using waste or residue feedstocks. In line with scheme guidance, AD site operators should ensure that the waste hierarchy has been applied and alternative markets have been considered before using any waste feedstocks for AD. DEFRA will continue to work closely with other government departments to deliver the best environmental policy outcomes which align with the food surplus and waste hierarchy.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 written statement entitled Future funding for the Canal and River Trust of 10 July 2023, HCWS924, for what reason she plans to reduce funding for the Canal and River Trust relative to the funding announced in 2012.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
When the Canal and River Trust (C&RT) was set up in 2012 to replace British Waterways, the Government agreed to provide an annual grant totalling around £740 million over a 15-year period up to 2027 as the charity established itself. At the time the Government and the C&RT agreed in a Memorandum of Understanding on 28 June 2012 that the C&RT would progressively reduce reliance on Government grant funding.
The Government recently agreed to provide the C&RT with a further £400 million grant over ten years from 2027, while encouraging the C&RT to increase income from alternative sources and reduce reliance on taxpayer funding as an independent charity, consistent with the original strategic intent. There have been incorrect claims made that this new grant represents a £300 million cut to the C&RT’s funding.
The Government has been discussing with the C&RT for some time how the C&RT can increase income from other sources and has been offering support on this.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
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 20 March 2023 to Question 165497 on Foie Gras, when his Department intends to finish building its evidence base to inform future decisions on the import and sale of foie gras.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No end date has been set for building the evidence base in relation to foie gras.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of including glass in the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
UK Government, Welsh Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland consulted in 2019 and 2021 on the detail of introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In January 2023 we published the government response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme (link here).
As outlined in the government response, glass bottles will not be captured by DRS in England and Northern Ireland as the respective governments believe the addition of glass will add additional complexity and challenges to delivery of DRS in particular to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as additional consumer inconvenience. Given concerns raised on managing glass in a DRS, delivery of the scheme will focus on plastic bottles and aluminium/steel cans in England and Northern Ireland.
Whilst not in-scope of the DRS in England and Northern Ireland, glass drinks bottles will be covered by the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging scheme in both nations, which will place targets on producers in relation to glass recycling. The proposed recycling target for glass packaging under EPR is 83% by 2030. Producers will also be responsible for the costs of managing glass packaging in household waste and disposed in street bins provided by local authorities.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the quantity of single use plastics used in food packaging in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold the data to calculate the quantity of single use plastics used in food packaging in each of the last five years in England. The Waste and Resources Action Programme has however reported in the Plastics Market Situation Report 2021, that 948,000 tonnes of plastic packaging for grocery products was placed on the UK market in 2017 and 987,000 tonnes in 2019.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason the introduction of modulated fees for Extended Producer Responsibility has been put back until 2025.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) summary of consultation responses and Government response published in March 2022 states that modulated fees will be introduced from 2025. As producer fees rates are set based on the tonnages of packaging they supplied in the previous year, introducing fee modulation in the first year of pEPR implementation would not have been technically feasible and would not have left enough time for producers to make more sustainable decisions when designing or purchasing packaging. The introduction of modulated fees in 2025 will ensure that producers and the Scheme Administrator are fully prepared for the introduction of this measure.