Written questions by Naish.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of councils have (a) applied for and (b) received exemptions from food waste processing under the Simpler Recycling’s mandatory food waste collection requirements, due to commence between 2025-2027.

We have set out that every local authority will be required to collect food waste for recycling by 31 March 2026. Commencement regulations named a total of 31 local authorities that were provided with a bespoke transitional arrangement, delaying food waste collection requirements. It was deemed that these local authorities needed longer to implement separate food waste collections for households due to barriers presented by long-term residual waste disposal contracts that run beyond 31 March 2026. We engaged extensively with affected local authorities. Where the evidence demonstrated that existing long-term waste disposal contracts presented an unavoidable barrier to the introduction of food waste collections by 31 March 2026, transitional arrangements were provided by Defra. We will continue to work with local authorities to identify whether they can bring forward food waste collections and the associated benefits before the end of their bespoke transitional arrangement.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is planning to review the role of waste incineration in the management of residual waste in England; and what his plans are for proposed incineration facilities

Over the last 14 years, recycling rates stalled, meaning too much waste is dealt with unnecessarily through incineration or thrown in landfill. On 30 December, Defra published the Residual waste infrastructure capacity note and an accompanying statement, ...

Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to consult on phasing out the use of cages for layer hens in England.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Wokingham, Clive Jones, on 31 October 2024, PQ UIN 11121 .

Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the results of the consultation entitled the Fur market in Great Britain, published on 31 May 2021.

Ministers are reviewing policies, which will be announced in due course, including the consultation on the Fur Market in Great Britain. Defra is continuing to build the evidence base on the fur sector. This includes commissioning our expert Animal Welfare...

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to protect the welfare of farmed fish at slaughter.

Legislation on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that farmed fish are spared avoidable pain, distress or suffering during their killing and related operations. In 2023 the Animal Welfare Committee’s updated Opinion on the welfare o...

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the publication entitled The review for implementation of Schedule 3 to The Flood and Water Management Act 2010, published by his Department in January 2023, whether

Planning policy requires that Sustainable Drainage Systems are included in all new major developments, unless there is clear evidence that this would be inappropriate. The Government is currently assessing how best to implement its ambitions on sustainabl...