Written questions by Mitchell.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase biodiversity in the West Midlands.

Improving biodiversity is a key objective for the Government, and we are taking action to deliver on our legally binding biodiversity targets on species abundance, species extinction, and habitat creation and restoration. These targets, alongside other statutory targets on tree canopy and woodland cover, water and air quality, marine protected areas, and resource efficiency, will drive action for nature recovery. The West Midlands Combined Authority is the responsible authority for preparing the West Midlands Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which will agree priorities for nature recovery in the area and identify and map the best locations for action to be taken to benefit nature and the wider environment. Defra has provided funding to responsible authorities to prepare their strategies, as well as dedicated advice and support from Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Forestry Commission.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take with local authorities to reduce the amount of plastic pollution in public parks.

Local councils are usually best placed to respond to littering problems, as their response can be tailored to the local community. They have a range of enforcement tools at their disposal including fixed penalty notices and prosecution. We are reviewing how we can further support local authorities to tackle these issues. We have also taken steps to tackle commonly littered plastic items such as disposable vapes. The sale of single-use vapes will be banned from 1 June 2025. This will help to tackle a huge and growing stream of hard-to-recycle waste and litter, with nearly 5 million thrown away every week. Plastic drinks containers are also covered as part of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that will go live in England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027. The DRS will introduce a redeemable deposit on single-use in-scope drinks containers which can be claimed back by customers when the empty container is returned. This will reduce litter, increase recycling rates, create high quality recyclate for producers, and promote a circular economy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the recycling rates in Birmingham in 2022-23.

The percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting for Birmingham City Council in 2022-23 was 22.9 per cent. Waste and recycling statistics including household recycling rates are published annually for all local authorities in England here.