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620916

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food: Waste
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to address the increase in food waste.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	50108
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), we are taking action to reduce food waste across supply chains, from farm to fork. WRAP launched Courtauld 2025 in March this year, which builds on the progress we have already made. This new agreement includes a target to reduce food and drink waste arising in the UK by 20% by 2025.</p><p> </p><p>WRAP reports a strong start to Courtauld 2025 since its launch. Courtauld 2025 now includes food and drink businesses representing 95% of the 2016 UK food retail market, as well as many leading brands, manufacturers and hospitality and food service companies.</p><p> </p><p>WRAP has established industry-led working groups to address key issues, including reducing waste from fresh produce, meat protein, dairy, hospitality and food services and increasing levels of surplus food redistribution. WRAP is also initiating signatory-led innovation projects to develop best practice within food and drink supply chains.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 31/10/2016 11:38:24 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

620911

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Flood Control: Finance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funds available to the Environment Agency to carry out routine riverbank maintenance work.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	50259
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>We are investing £2.5 billion over six years on capital flood defences (including major flood defences) up until 2021.</p><p> </p><p>In the Autumn Statement 2015 we confirmed that we would protect the flood asset maintenance budget (this includes funding for riverbank maintenance), in real terms, until the end of the Parliament. We also stated that we would find 10% efficiencies in maintenance by the end of the Parliament and reinvest that money in more maintenance. In the Budget 2016 we announced that we would spend an extra £40 million per year on maintenance until the end of the Parliament. These commitments mean that we are spending over £1 billion on maintenance this Parliament. This is an increase of 29% above spending on maintenance in the previous Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>We have assessed that this spending achieves an optimal balance between capital and maintenance spending.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 50257 question first answered 31/10/2016 11:41:33 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

620912

	registered interest
	date	25/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Flood Control
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department makes of the appropriateness of the relative priority given to major flood defences and routine riverbank maintenance measures by the Environment Agency.
	tabling member constituency	York Outer
	tabling member printed	Julian Sturdy
	uin	50257
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>We are investing £2.5 billion over six years on capital flood defences (including major flood defences) up until 2021.</p><p> </p><p>In the Autumn Statement 2015 we confirmed that we would protect the flood asset maintenance budget (this includes funding for riverbank maintenance), in real terms, until the end of the Parliament. We also stated that we would find 10% efficiencies in maintenance by the end of the Parliament and reinvest that money in more maintenance. In the Budget 2016 we announced that we would spend an extra £40 million per year on maintenance until the end of the Parliament. These commitments mean that we are spending over £1 billion on maintenance this Parliament. This is an increase of 29% above spending on maintenance in the previous Parliament.</p><p> </p><p>We have assessed that this spending achieves an optimal balance between capital and maintenance spending.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey grouped question UIN 50259 question first answered 31/10/2016 11:41:33 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4079 label Biography information for Julian Sturdy

622101

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Fly-tipping: Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to work with local authorities to increase the number of successful prosecutions for fly-tipping.
	tabling member constituency	Calder Valley
	tabling member printed	Craig Whittaker
	uin	50374
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>We are committed to tackling fly-tipping as set out in the Government’s manifesto. In May this year we gave local authorities in England the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small-scale fly-tipping. These new enforcement tools provide local authorities with an alternative to prosecutions and will assist them to take a proportionate enforcement response.</p><p>This builds on other actions to tackle fly-tipping, which has included:</p><p> </p><ol><li><p>Working with the Sentencing Council on its guidelines for sentencing for environmental offences.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Making it easier for vehicles suspected of being involved in waste crime to be stopped, searched and seized.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Working in partnership through the Defra-chaired National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to prevent and tackle illegal dumping. The group has representatives from central and local Government, enforcement authorities, the waste industry and private landowners. The group works to promote and disseminate good practice in the prevention, reporting, investigation and clearance of fly-tipped waste.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Publishing a series of fly-tipping prevention guides for householders, businesses, landowners and local authorities, including Fly-tipping responsibilities: Guide for local authorities and land managers. These documents can be viewed at <a href="http://www.tacklingflytipping.com/" target="_blank">www.tacklingflytipping.com</a>.</p><p> </p></li><li><p>Publishing a revised, waste Duty of Care Code of Practice that provides guidance to local authorities, regulators, the waste industry and all those that produce, keep, import, treat, have control or dispose of controlled waste on how to comply with their Duty of Care obligations.</p><p><strong> </strong></p></li></ol> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 31/10/2016 11:35:37 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	3940 label Biography information for Craig Whittaker

622020

	registered interest
	date	26/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Plastics: Recycling
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to provide local authorities with the appropriate facilities to enable them to recycle all kinds of plastics.
	tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
	tabling member printed	Tim Farron
	uin	50320
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>The Government considers that local authorities are best placed to make decisions about the management of waste under their control, taking into account local needs, the waste hierarchy and the authority’s waste management strategy.</p><p> </p><p>Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the Government is developing and delivering activities in support of the use of recycled materials in new products and activities to stimulate its demand. For example, the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan has identified key actions that need to take place across the whole supply chain to ensure that recycling plastics packaging can be done sustainably. This includes design for recyclability, collections and sorting, reprocessing and development of sustainable end markets. In September this year, WRAP and an industry advisory group published a framework for greater consistency in recycling. Actions from this framework aim to identify opportunities to rationalise packaging formats (in particular plastic packaging) to those that are recyclable and for which there is a steady market, and to help local authorities to recycle a greater variety of plastics.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 31/10/2016 10:39:29 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

619932

	registered interest
	date	24/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Utilities: Billing
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the average additional annual costs to domestic consumers who are unable to (a) pay utilities bills by direct debit or (b) receive utilities bills electronically in each of the last three years.
	tabling member constituency	East Renfrewshire
	tabling member printed	Kirsten Oswald
	uin	49861
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>The Department has not made any estimate of the average additional annual costs to domestic consumers who do not pay by direct debit or receive an electronic water bill.</p><p> </p><p>Water companies in England and Wales do not generally differentiate between customers that pay their water bill by direct debit or access their account online, and those that choose paper billing and annual payment. We are aware of two (Northumbrian Water and United Utilities) that offer an annual discount of £7 and £5 respectively. These discounts are not cross subsidised but reflect the value of the cost saving to companies and customers. These discounts are also an incentive to encourage greater sign up as there are benefits for both the customer and the company.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 31/10/2016 12:45:35 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	4413 label Biography information for Kirsten Oswald

607522

	registered interest
	date	21/10/2016
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Grasslands
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to implement the Guidelines for Selection of Biological SSSIs, revised in 2014, on extending the protection for the rarest and most vulnerable lowland grasslands to all sites that meet the criteria.
	tabling member constituency	Chesham and Amersham
	tabling member printed	Mrs Cheryl Gillan
	uin	49785
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2016 answer text <p>Selection and notification of sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) is a matter for Natural England. Natural England has published its current designations programme on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-designations-programme-for-areas-sites-and-trails) and this includes several areas that host lowland grassland habitats. Natural England will continue to implement the <em>Guidelines for the selection of biological SSSIs</em>, as appropriate.</p> answering member constituency Suffolk Coastal answering member printed Dr Thérèse Coffey question first answered 31/10/2016 10:37:22 answering member 4098 label Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey
	tabling member	18 label Biography information for Dame Cheryl Gillan