Greg Smith MP: written questions 2025
114 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Universities: AntisemitismDepartment for EducationTabled 14 May 2025AnsweredUIN 52324More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to hold discussions with university vice-chancellors in relation to the report by StandWithUs UK entitled Voice of Students 2024-25, published on 7 May 2025.
Answer: This government condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms and we are actively taking steps to prevent and tackle it on campus, as in all parts of society. The antisemitic incidents detailed in StandWithUs UK’s report are wholly unacceptable an...
Answered 21 May 2025
Original Parliament recordNational Foundation for Educational Research in England and WalesDepartment for EducationTabled 12 May 2025AnsweredUIN 51434More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the governance arrangements of the National Foundation for Educational Research.
Answer: The National Foundation for Educational Research is a leading provider of research and assessments in the UK. The department has no formal oversight or management relationship with them, and as such, has not made an assessment of the adequacy of their gov...
Answered 16 May 2025
Original Parliament recordChildren's Wellbeing and Schools Bill: AcademiesDepartment for EducationTabled 22 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 903828More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on academies.
Answer: This government’s mission is clear: to break down barriers to opportunity by driving high and rising standards delivered through excellent teaching and leadership, a high-quality curriculum, and a system which removes the barriers to learning that hold to...
Answered 28 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: EnergyDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve energy efficiency across her Department's estate.
Answer: We have interpreted this to refer to measures undertaken across the Department’s estate in support of broader sustainability and decarbonisation objectives. DWP is forecast to achieve the challenging energy efficiency related targets set out in the Greeni...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45878More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on (a) local economic growth and (b) the financial resilience of local au
Answer: Extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) and the packaging reforms more broadly, will deliver both positive environmental and economic benefits, supporting 21,000 jobs in our nations and regions, and stimulating more than 10 billion pounds in...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45877More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that local authorities use funds from the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme solely for waste management and environmental purposes.
Answer: pEPR regulations include a range of measures to drive improved performance and ensure local authorities make the investments needed to support an efficient and effective waste management service for household packaging. These include:Introducing an Improv...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGlass: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45876More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether pubs that have already paid for glass recycling will be reimbursed for Extended Producer Responsibility charges.
Answer: Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. Despite considering multiple approaches, a consensus on a...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGlass: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45875More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) pubs and (b) other businesses are not charged twice for glass recycling under the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme.
Answer: Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. Despite considering multiple approaches, a consensus on a...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordSmall Businesses: RecyclingDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 17 Apr 2025AnsweredUIN 45874More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the impact of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme on small and medium-sized enterprises
Answer: The Government has listened to feedback from small businesses and introduced support measures to help compliance with EPR, including: exemptions from fee obligations for producers with annual turnover below £2 million and packaging tonnage below 50 tonnes...
Answered 29 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordProstate Cancer: ScreeningDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 26 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 41523More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Prostate Cancer Research report, Socio-economic Impact of Prostate Cancer Screening, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the macroe
Answer: The UK National Screening Committee currently does not recommend prostate cancer screening because the evidence suggests that it does more harm than good. The committee is currently reviewing the evidence for both population wide screening and targeted pr...
Answered 31 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39108More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department considered alternatives to extended producer responsibility.
Answer: The Government consulted on the principles, objectives, and proposals for extended producer responsibility in 2019 and 2021, and these received high levels of support. This followed initial lobbying in 2018 from the sector, which preferred extended produc...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39107More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how his Department will monitor compliance with extended producer responsibility requirements; and what penalties will apply for non-compliance.
Answer: Defra officials are working closely with the Environment Agency (EA) and Devolved Governments to ensure robust plans are in place to both scrutinise the accuracy of submissions from enrolled producers, and identify and bring into compliance free riders wh...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39106More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the (a) efficiency and (b) effectiveness of how local authorities use extended producer responsibility revenue.
Answer: From 2028, the pEPR scheme administrator, PackUK, must assess whether each local authority is running an effective waste management service for household packaging waste. If PackUK determines that a local authority is not providing an effective waste mana...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39105More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will regularly publish the methods by which extended producer responsibility fees are (a) calculated and (b) used.
Answer: We have previously published additional guidance to accompany any release of updated base fee amounts which provides a more detailed breakdown of fee calculations for each material and the data involved. Similar accompanying information will be provided a...
Answered 1 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39104More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to commission an independent review of extended producer responsibility fees to consider whether the fees are (a) fair to and (b) sustainable for relevant busines
Answer: The Scheme Administrator, PackUK, is required to set base fees in line with the regulations, which were developed by the previous Government following extensive engagement and consultation with stakeholders. Since the publication of the first illustrative...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordGlass: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39103More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to (a) exempt or (b) reduce extended producer responsibility fees for brewers using glass bottles containing a high proportion of recycled glass.
Answer: Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) requires producers to bear the end-of-life costs associated with packaging that they place on the market, rather than the proportion of recycled materials contained. Officials have been working with st...
Answered 1 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordGlass: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39102More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the level of extended producer responsibility fees of the recyclable nature of glass packaging.
Answer: The potential implications of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) fees on the recyclable nature of glass packaging have been considered within the framework of the scheme, particularly through the mechanism of fee modulation. Modulation ...
Answered 1 Apr 2025
Original Parliament recordRecycling: PackagingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39101More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department consulted industry representatives on the level of extended producer responsibility fees.
Answer: The Government consulted on the principles of extended producer responsibility in 2019 and 2021, including the principle that producers would cover the full net costs to local authorities of managing household packaging waste. This included an estimate of...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordRecycling: PackagingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39100More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the extended producer responsibility scheme does not disproportionately impact (a) consumer choice and (b) product availability.
Answer: Through making producers responsible for the costs of managing the packaging they use; packaging extended producer responsibility will incentivise producers to use less packaging and transition to re-usable or easy-to-recycle packaging. Defra have not ide...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordGlass: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39099More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of extended producer responsibility fees on brewers using glass bottles.
Answer: Following the passage of the legislation introducing extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) through parliament, the government has been working closely with industry, including the glass sector, to understand the impact of the upcoming fees...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39098More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to introduce (a) financial support and (b) tax relief for businesses impacted by extended producer responsibility.
Answer: The Government wants to see all businesses take steps to reduce packaging use, ensure packaging is easy to recycle, and where appropriate move to re-use systems. However, the pEPR scheme includes generous exemptions to reduce the burden on small producers...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39097More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the extended producer responsibility scheme does not reduce investment in UK manufacturing.
Answer: The scheme treats domestic manufacturing and import equally, with all packaging and packaged products, whether manufactured and supplied domestically or imported into UK, subject to the obligations in the Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations. Simi...
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39096More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that small businesses are not disproportionately impacted by extended producer responsibility fees.
Answer: The Government wants to see all businesses take steps to reduce packaging use, ensure packaging is easy to recycle, and where appropriate move to re-use systems. However, the Government also recognises the importance of protecting small producers from dir...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39095More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to mitigate the potential impact of extended producer responsibility on food and drink prices.
Answer: The aim of pEPR is to ensure businesses - rather than taxpayers - are responsible for the cost of dealing with packaging when it becomes waste. These regulations will encourage manufacturers to reduce the amount of packaging they use and increase recyclab...
Answered 28 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPackaging: RecyclingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 18 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 39094More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to delay the implementation of extended producer responsibility.
Answer: No. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 came into effect on 1 January 2025, PackUK, the Scheme Administrator has been appointed, and producers will start to accrue scheme costs from 1 April 2025.
Answered 25 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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