Every parliamentary written question tabled by Deirdre Costigan this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–8 of 8 · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help (a) support British farmers to negotiate contracts with retailers and (b) preserve traditional farming methods.
The Government will deliver a resilient and healthy food system, with a new deal that ensures fairness in the supply chain across all sectors. Where farmers sell directly to retailers, their agreements will be covered within the scope of the sectoral regu...
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce design standards that ensure greater accessibility in (a) parks, (b) woodlands and (c) other outdoor spaces for disabled peo
The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public sector organisations to have due regard to the provision of walking and wheeling infrastructure for those who are disabled or have reduced mobility. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced the ...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent flooding in urban areas.
Protecting all communities around the country from flooding is one of the Secretary of State’s five core priorities. The new Government has established a Floods Resilience Taskforce, a key commitment that marks a new approach to preparing for flooding and...
Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of a deposit return scheme on levels of (a) litter and (b) public disamenity caused by litter; and if he will make an estimate of th
Across the UK, it is estimated that approximately 4 billion plastic and 2.5 billion metal drinks containers are not recycled every year – a significant amount being littered. Once the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers is introduced, the De...
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of incentives under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to encourage the use of reusable packaging.
Re-use has a significant role to play in driving down unnecessary waste, and the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will encourage use of reusable and refillable packaging.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the proposed level of producer involvement in the (a) establishment and (b) administration of the Extended Producer Responsibility Sche
Yes. The Scheme Administrator is already guided by the Scheme Administrator Steering Group, whose membership includes representatives across the packaging and waste value chain including several producers and their trade associations. The Secretary of Sta...
Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the proposed introduction of litter payments under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
Defra is working with the Devolved Administrations on future amends to the Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility scheme, including the management of binned waste and litter within this scheme.
Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce sewage discharges by water companies into waterways.
The Secretary of State recently met with water company bosses to make it clear that water firms will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment. During the meeting, water bosses signed up to the government’s initial package of reforms to reduce sewage pollution and attract investment to upgrade infrastructure. The government also announced a new Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will turn around the performance of water companies, in the King’s Speech. The Bill will strengthen regulation, give the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increase accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector. I would also refer the hon. Member to the Written Statement made by the Secretary of State on 18 July, HCWS3.