Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

The Government’s resources and waste reforms for England

Status: Closed Opened: 20 Jul 2023 Closed: 8 Mar 2024 12 recommendations 13 conclusions 1 report

What we do with household, commercial, industrial, construction and demolition waste has economic and environmental consequences. Disposal of plastic, food and garden waste can release greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change; in 2021 alone, disposal and treatment of waste represented 6% of UK greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018, the Government published its Resource and …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Government’s programme of waste reforms HC 333 1 Dec 2023 25 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

1 item
15 Recommendation Fifth Report - Government’s programme o… Accepted in Part

Uncertainties in deposit return scheme benefits and delayed Scottish launch raise value for money concerns.

The National Audit Office recommended that the Department considers piloting the scheme due to uncertainties around the scale of the benefits to ensure it is value for money. The impact assessment for the deposit return scheme showed that more than 90% of the benefits of the scheme are based on …

Government response. The government agrees with the need to learn lessons but addresses the committee's point by detailing extensive learning from international deposit return schemes, without committing to piloting the UK scheme itself, promising an update in Summer 2024.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
11 Sep 2023 Emma Bourne OBE · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jane Cunliffe · Department for Education, Sarah Homer · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Susan Acland-Hood · The Department for Education, Tamara Finkelstein CB · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs View ↗