Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme (a) is designed in cooperation with industry, (b) is effective and (c) keeps additional costs to (i) businesses and (ii) consumers to a minimum.

The Government recently took the decision to defer the introduction of extended producer responsibility for packaging by 12 months having considered feedback from stakeholders and current economic pressures. This additional time will be used to further engage with industry and local authorities on the operational design of elements of the scheme including the scheme governance, administration arrangements and the fees and payments model. This also provides more time for businesses to prepare and to adapt to the new data reporting requirements and for Government to consult on the draft Regulations that will implement extended producer responsibility providing further opportunity for stakeholder feedback. I want to ensure the scheme is effective, delivers improvements to local authority packaging waste services and provides value for money to obligated businesses.