Plastic pollution in the ocean is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today, with estimates suggesting that around 12 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year, a figure that is predicted to increase three-fold between 2016 and 2040. This is why there is an immediate need to better manage plastic waste and prevent plastic pollution from entering ocean in the first place.<\/p>
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Domestically, the UK supports the Fishing for Litter scheme, a voluntary, unpaid litter bycatch removal scheme by commercial fishermen, run by Komunernes International Miljøorganisation (KIMO), which provides fishing boats with bags to dispose of marine-sourced litter collected during normal fishing operations and the development of similar local schemes. In 2019, we changed marine licensing measures to make it easier for divers to recover marine litter, including abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear. We also support and endorse national clean up campaigns such as the Great British Beach Clean, and the UK Government funds the Marine Conservation Society to record litter from sections of our coasts which helps us monitor the levels and trends of plastic pollution across several years. This data is used in combination with other monitoring data to inform our decisions about how to tackle marine litter.<\/p>
Additionally, our 25 Year Environment Plan establishes our target of reducing all forms of marine plastic pollution where possible, and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this, including through consulting on measures such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for fishing gear by 2022 to ensure that fishing gear that is no longer fit for purpose is disposed of correctly and is prevented from polluting the ocean.<\/p>
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Internationally, the UK has supported the Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) since 2018. GPAP brings together world leaders, decision-makers and industry to take collaborative action on tackling plastic pollution in developing countries. The UK are active members of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI): a pioneering alliance of the fishing industry, private companies, NGOs and Governments working to solve the global problem of ghost fishing gear. The UK also launched the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance in 2018, along with our co-chair Vanuatu, to reduce marine plastic pollution. Since its launch, 34 Commonwealth member states have united to take action on tackling plastic pollution.<\/p>
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Furthermore, the UK has co-sponsored a resolution to start negotiations for a new internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution at the United Nations Environment Assembly. A new international instrument would build upon the important work we are doing to tackle marine litter both domestically and internationally and support our commitments to reduce additional plastic pollution in the ocean to zero.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4062", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2021-11-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2021-11-18T14:28:49.437Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2021-11-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Plastics: Seas and Oceans"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to remove masses of plastic from the oceans.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2018", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hylton"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hylton"} ], "uin" : "HL3729"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1364835", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1364835/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This Government is clear that foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them.<\/p>
Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence in the UK is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity.<\/p>
The New Plan for Immigration will stop foreign criminals abusing the system and speed up the removals of those with no right to remain in the UK.<\/p>
The Home Office publishes data on the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) returned from the UK in each quarter in the \u2018Immigration Statistics Quarterly release\u2019. The latest data, published on 26th<\/sup> August 2021, can be found in tables Ret_02 and Ret_02q of the Returns Summary tables. The latest data relates to year ending March 2021 and includes those who were detained in detention centres and prisons.<\/p>"}
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, "title" : "Tables Ret _02 and Ret-02q "}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government how many convicted foreign offenders were deported after completing their prison sentences in each quarter since 1 January 2020.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1363220", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Home Office"}
], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1363220/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : " The asylum system has been under pressure for several years, but this has been exacerbated by the global pandemic. At the start of the COVID outbreak, whilst intake reduced, so did interview options and decision making capacity. We put in place recovery plans and continue to develop these in light of recent intake.<\/p> The Home Office is pursuing a programme of transformation and business improvement initiatives which will speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview or decision. This includes almost doubling decision makers number to c.1,000 and providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.<\/p> We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.<\/p>"}
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], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the backlog of asylum applications.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"}
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, {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1363221", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Education"}
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