Written questions by Timothy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the beet sugar industry’s Virus Yellows resilience fund.

This Government acknowledges the critical role of sugar beet farmers in the UK's sugar production and their ongoing contributions to the agricultural sector. This Government recognises the challenge posed to sugar beet growers by Virus Yellows (VY), and we strongly support the industry-led work to develop more sustainable alternative controls for the aphids that spread these diseases. This includes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques such as novel companion crops, and the development of new pest resistant varieties using both traditional and precision breeding techniques. These novel control methods, alongside new active substances such as Flupyradifurone – approved this year – will ensure that sugar beet growers have the tools they need to address VY. The government is committed towards achieving crop resilience, especially in the sugar beet sector, to support Britain’s food security and nature’s recovery. Defra collaborates with the British Beet Research Organisation on IPM initiatives, with plans to observe their IPM trials in the coming Spring. As part of this, the Government remains fully committed to enhancing crop resilience and is progressing legislation to activate precision breeding in England.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the time period between the introduction of the (a) Extended Producer Responsibility and (b) Deposit Return scheme on levels of glass usage in packaging.

Defra has worked closely with industry, including the glass sector, throughout the development of the scheme. In October 2024 the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers. This assessment factored in the introduction of DRS in 2027.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether all (a) glass, (b) steel, (c) aluminium and (d) PET drinks containers are subject to reporting and payment of Extended Producer Responsibility as there is no exemption for Wales under EPR Regulation 11.

Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, Deposit items of a relevant deposit scheme are exempt from reporting, recycling and disposal fee obligations. Prior to the introduction of a relevant deposit scheme, steel, aluminium, and PET drinks containers are subject to data reporting and recycling obligations but not disposal fees. Provided that a deposit scheme comes into operation in at least one part of the UK by 1 January 2028, steel, aluminium and PET drinks containers will not be subject to disposal fees in any part of the UK. However, if a deposit scheme is not in operation in any part of the United Kingdom by 1 January 2028, liable producers of steel, aluminium, and PET drinks containers will also pay disposal fees for this packaging. Glass drinks containers are subject to the full range of pEPR obligation and liable producers are obliged to pay disposal fees for this packaging.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether all (a) glass, (b) steel, (c) aluminium and (d) PET drinks containers are subject to reporting and payment of Extended Producer Responsibility in Wales.

All steel, aluminium and PET plastic drinks containers across the UK are exempt from pEPR disposal fees but remain subject to reporting and recycling (PRN) obligations until Deposit Return Schemes (DRS’s) enter into operation. Should DRS’s not enter into operation by the 1 January 2028 this exemption will cease. Glass drinks containers across the UK are subject to pEPR data reporting and both disposal fees and recycling obligations.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of exempting elite shooting athletes from the Health and Safety Executive’s proposed restriction on the acquisition, storage, and use of lead shot.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations as well as independent scientific advice, included consideration of the use of lead shot by athletes. In their final Opinion, HSE set out their assessment and this included a proposed exemption for competitive athletes. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on the proposed restriction, we are assessing their proposals. A decision will follow in due course, which will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of clay pigeon shooting on (a) business growth and (b) job creation in rural communities.

Rural areas offer significant potential for growth and are important to our economy, contributing over £315 billion a year to England alone. Defra has not made a formal assessment on contribution of clay pigeon shooting to the rural economy; however, we know the rural economy is diverse with 86% of rural businesses unrelated to agriculture, forestry or fishing. The government recognises the economic benefits that shooting sports such as clay pigeon shooting can bring to rural communities and that it can be an important part of a local economy which provides direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of restricting the acquisition, storage, and usage of lead shot on elite shooting athletes.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition, informed by information from public consultations as well as independent scientific advice, included consideration of the use of lead shot by athletes. In their final Opinion, HSE set out their assessment and this included a proposed exemption for competitive athletes. Now Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion on the proposed restriction, we are assessing their proposals. A decision will follow in due course, which will be taken with consent from the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales.

Food and Rural Affairs, what representations his Department has received from shooting organisations on restrictions on the acquisition, storage, and use of lead shot.

Defra has received representations from a variety of stakeholders, including shooting organisations, setting out a diverse range of views on this issue. The main shooting organisations that have made representations have been: The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Aim to Sustain, and the Gun Trade Association.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials in his Department have had with the Health and Safety Executive on its proposed restriction on the acquisition, storage, and use of lead shot.

In Spring 2021, Defra asked the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA) to prepare a restriction dossier for lead ammunition in all habitats. The HSE and the EA have considered the evidence of risk posed by lead in ammunition to human health and the environment, as well as the socio-economic impacts of their proposed restriction. They also considered the effectiveness, practicality, monitorability and enforceability of their suggested restriction. HSE have now published a final Opinion on their restriction proposal for lead in ammunition (including lead shot), informed by feedback from public consultations as well as independent scientific advice. As part of their Opinion, HSE have considered the socio-economic impacts of their proposed restriction in GB. Defra has received HSE’s final Opinion and are assessing their proposals. A decision will follow, which will be taken with the consent of the Devolved Governments of Scotland and Wales. Since the final Opinion was published, Defra Officials have been in contact with the HSE to discuss and further understand their recommendation in detail.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of splitting recycling targets for (a) packaging recovery notes and (b) packaging export recovery notes.

Defra will shortly be engaging with relevant stakeholders to better understand the merits of this and other potential enhancements to the Package Recovery Note system.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much abuse and fraud has been reported on the Packaging Export Recovery Note system since 2010.

This data is available on the National Packaging Waste Database – National Packaging Waste Database.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the number of arrests for fraud concerning packaging export recovery notes in each year since 2010.

Data related to prosecutions is published by the relevant regulators. https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-enforcement-action

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of Packaging Export Recovery Note (PERN) system on global plastic pollution.

All exports of plastic packaging waste are made in accordance with the relevant regulations related to the shipment of waste and are enforced by the Environment Agency (relevant regulator). The PRN/PERN system provides economic support for the recycling of packaging waste whether reprocessed in the UK or overseas.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of (a) packing export recovery and (b) packaging recovery notes that have been issued each year since 2010.

This data is available on the National Packaging Waste Database – National Packaging Waste Database.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of plastic recycling facilities that have closed since 2010.

There is no historical record of closures of plastics recycling facilitiesHowever the National Packaging Waste Database which is held by the Environment Agency provides a Public Register of Accredited Reprocessors and Exporters - including those handling plastic - across each nation, that can be tracked back to 2013.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the fire at the battery energy storage systems site in Liverpool in 2020 on the environment.

The Government has not made an assessment of the potential impact on the environment of the fire at the battery energy storage systems site in Liverpool in 2020. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service carried out testing of the water run-off with advice from its scientific support provider at time of the incident. Tests indicated no harmful contamination of watercourses or drains, with the water run off also largely being contained on site.

Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish non-illustrative fees for extended producer responsibility for packaging.

A third set of illustrative base fees were published in December 2024, based on improved data, to provide greater certainty to business. Producers are required to submit the next round of 2024 data by 1 April 2025. Following this and pending satisfactory regulatory checks, we intend to use this data to publish pEPR base fees by June 2025 for the current Operational Year. Invoices will be issued in October 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report packaging data system for extended producer responsibility, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for which there has been a decline in glass volumes in the first six months of 2024.

The 2024 pEPR impact assessment assessed the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers as a whole. The illustrative base fees use packaging tonnage data submitted to date by producers on the Report Packaging Data (RPD) online portal for the first six months of 2024. We continue to monitor all data submitted by producers on the RPD portal and will publish an update to the illustrative base fees if the estimates significantly change. We do not have enough of a time series to identify reasons for, or impact on the policy on Placed On Market tonnages. We aim to calculate final fees in June, following regulator checks of the data.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has taken steps to promote material substitution, in the context of (a) recent trends in the level of Extended Producer Responsibility Fees and (b) the introduction of a deposit return scheme for other drink materials from 2027.

The Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. The packaging reforms increase producers’ roles in supporting this transition. Packaging EPR will make producers, rather than taxpayers, responsible for the costs of managing their packaging, reducing the amount of packaging used by producers and incentivising recyclable and reusable alternatives. In line with previous consultations, and the regulations, Packaging EPR base fees in year 1 are designed to reflect the cost of managing packaging waste. From year 2 fees will include modulation to incentivise more environmentally sustainable packaging, initially focussing on recyclability. I DRS in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland will include single-use drinks containers from 150ml to 3 litres. Materials included are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, steel, and aluminium drink containers. A DRS will create a separate cleaner, closed-loop waste stream which will mean plastic and metal drinks containers can be turned back into new drinks containers, reducing the reliance on virgin materials. The scheme has not been designed to encourage material switching.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility fees being (a) illustrative and (b) not intended for business planning purposes on the ability of business to plan for these costs.

The four UK administrations have published three sets of illustrative base fees to help businesses prepare for the implementation of extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging. Thanks to regular engagement and input with a wide range of businesses for the first time we published the third set of illustrative fees showed point estimates as opposed to ranges, providing further certainty. Large producers are required to submit the next round of 2024 data by 1 April 2025 to ensure the fees are based on accurate data, following this and pending satisfactory regulatory checks, we intend to use these data to publish pEPR base fees by June 2025. PackUK will continue to monitor the expected base fees as more packaging data is submitted for 2024, and will release a new set of illustrative base fees before June if there are significant changes.