Tag: Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

More than 50 councils across the UK are to receive grants totalling more than £1.2 million to remove discarded chewing gum from our streets and prevent it from being littered again.

Antrim and Newtownabbey, Cardiff, Glasgow, Ipswich, Liverpool, Sunderland and Wiltshire are among those to benefit from the second round of funding from the Chewing Gum Task Force.

Launched in 2021, the Task Force was established by Defra and is administered by charity Keep Britain Tidy, with funding provided by gum producers. It aims to clean gum off pavements and put in measures to stop it being dropped in the first place, helping clamp down on anti-social littering.

Estimates suggest the annual clean-up cost of chewing gum for councils in the UK is around £7 million and, according to Keep Britain Tidy, around 77% of England’s streets and 99% of retail sites are stained with gum.

The Chewing Gum Task Force brings together some of the country’s major chewing gum producers, including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle. Together, the producers have pledged up to £10 million over five years via the scheme to tackle gum littering.

The latest round of funding includes:

• Grants of up to £25,000 for cleansing with a fully funded bespoke gum litter prevention package.
• Further grants of up to £25,000 for Antrim and Newtownabbey, Cardiff, Doncaster and Glasgow for the fully funded bespoke gum litter prevention package and long-term monitoring and evaluation carried out by not-for-profit social enterprise Behaviour Change.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

Littering blights our communities, spoils our countryside, harms our wildlife and wastes taxpayers’ money when cleaning it up. That’s why we’re working with gum producers to tackle chewing gum stains.

After the success of the first round of funding, this next slice will give councils further support to clean up our towns and cities.

In its first year the task force awarded 44 grants worth a total of £1.2 million, benefitting 53 councils who were able to clean an estimated 2.5km2 of pavement, an area larger than 467 football pitches.

By combining targeted street cleaning with specially designed signage to encourage people to bin their gum, participating councils achieved reductions in gum littering of up to 80% in the first two months. Monitoring and evaluation carried out by Behaviour Change has shown that a reduced rate of gum littering is still being observed six months after clean-up and the installation of prevention materials.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Keep Britain Tidy’s chief executive, said:

Chewing gum litter is highly visible on our high streets and is both difficult and expensive to clean up, so the support for councils provided by the Chewing Gum Task Force and the gum manufacturers is very welcome.

However, once the gum has been cleaned up, it is vital to remind the public that when it comes to litter, whether it’s gum or anything else, there is only one place it should be – in the bin – and that is why the behaviour change element of the task force’s work is so important.

Naomi Jones, corporate affairs director at Mars Wrigley UK, said:

We’re pleased to be supporting the work of the Chewing Gum Task Force again this year. While the majority of consumers already bin their used gum properly, we know there’s still work to be done to change the behaviour of people who are disposing of their gum irresponsibly.

In its first year, the Task Force’s work saw 2.5km2 cleaned in council areas around the country. Behaviour change interventions achieved chewing gum litter reductions of up to 80%. This year, we’ll be to be funding and partnering with another 56 councils, across the four nations, in 2023.

In 2022, individual councils received grants of up to £20,000 to fund street cleaning and the purchase of cleansing equipment. Larger grants of up to £70,000 were available to two or more councils working together to achieve a greater impact.

In Grimsby, machines made by Eco Removal Systems were used to clean unsightly chewing gum stains in the town centre. Due to the crew wearing the machines as backpacks, the team quickly became known as ‘Gum Busters’. The stains were removed using an eco-friendly detergent made from sugar beet. This was heated and sprayed directly on to the gum to vaporise it.

Four councils – Birmingham, Newport, Glasgow and Belfast – benefitted from a full independent evaluation of their clean-up and prevention signage. A reduction of up to 80% in gum littering after two months was measured as a result of the interventions, through a combination of pre- and post-intervention gum counts and footfall analysis.

The task force was announced as part of the government’s strategy to support the evolution and regeneration of high streets across the country, which includes 15 Town Deals totalling £335 million to fund community regeneration projects, the transformation of derelict buildings and communities being given the chance to own local pubs, theatres, sports grounds and corner shops.

Littering is a criminal offence. In the Prime Minister’s Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan, we have committed to raising the upper limit on spot fines later this year from £150 to £500 in England.

To tackle littering of drinks containers, from 2025 we will introduce a deposit return scheme for drinks containers where people will be incentivised to recycle their bottles and cans by placing a small deposit on drinks products.

We have also banned some of the most littered plastic items in England and plan to introduce further bans from October 2023.

The opening of this next round of funding comes alongside further steps this week to deliver the Prime Minister’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan which sets out the government’s approach to making sure these issues are treated with the urgency they deserve by establishing a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social behaviour, and giving the police and local authorities the tools they need to tackle the problem.

Coinciding with Resolve’s ASB Awareness Week, pilot schemes have begun in police force areas to increase police patrols in hotspot areas, helping deter crimes from happening in the first place, and to deliver ‘immediate justice’ whereby offenders will be made to repair the damage they’ve caused to their communities with an aim to start reparative work within 48 hours.

Earlier this week, the government also opened the first round of the Million Hours Fund, to make an initial £3 million of grants available for youth organisations to provide more out-of-school activities and support more young people in areas of high need this summer – ensuring young people are helped away from bad life choices and are given access to greater support.

The full list of councils to receive funding is below.

• Newark and Sherwood
• North Tyneside Council
• London Borough of Hackney
• Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
• Sevenoaks District Council
• Rushcliffe Borough Council
• London Borough of Waltham Forest
• East Cambridgeshire District Council
• Liverpool City Council
• Manchester City Council
• North Devon Council
• Sunderland City Council
• Leeds City Council
• Braintree District Council
• London Borough of Newham
• Tewkesbury Borough Council
• Canterbury City Council
• Southend-on-Sea City Council
• Stoke-on-Trent City Council
• Colchester City Council
• Blackpool Council
• Haringey Council
• City of London Corporation
• Ipswich Borough Council
• City of Doncaster Council
• Redbridge Council
• Cumberland Council
• Middlesbrough Council
• Lewes District Council
• Newcastle City Council
• Pendle Borough Council
• Milton Keynes City Council
• Wiltshire Council
• Wirral Borough Council
• Oxford City Council
• London Borough of Lambeth
• Ealing Council
• Warrington
• Wigan Council
• Cardiff Council
• Newport City Council
• Cyngor Gwynedd
• Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
• Bridgend County Borough Council
• Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council
• Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
• Vale of Glamorgan Council
• Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
• Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
• Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
• Derry City and Strabane District Council
• Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council
• Mid Ulster District Council
• South Lanarkshire Council
• South Ayrshire Council
• Glasgow City Council

Households will no longer have to pay to get rid of DIY waste, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow announced today (Sunday 18 June).

Following overwhelming public support, the Government will abolish the fees which some local authorities charge for disposing of DIY waste at household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). This will support householders to dispose of their waste in a responsible manner and encourage recycling.

Around a third of Local Authorities still charge for household DIY waste. The changes outlined today will mean councils treat DIY waste the same as household waste and could save households up to £10 for an individual item – for example, a sheet of plasterboard.

This will make it much easier and cheaper for people making home improvements to get rid of their waste – and may reduce the temptation to use waste cowboys who fly-tip rubbish.

Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said:

We want to make it as easy as possible for people to dispose of their waste properly and that’s why we are removing the financial burden on doing the right thing with DIY trash.

This not only supports our wider work to tackle fly-tipping and waste crime, but we are helping home improvers across the nation make their dream projects a reality.

These changes complement wider action we are taking to tackle fly-tipping and waste crime, which is estimated to cost the economy £924m per year in England. Earlier this year we announced grants totalling £775,000 to help councils roll out a range of projects to crack down on fly-tipping. We have consulted on reforming the waste carrier, broker, dealer regime and on introducing mandatory digital waste tracking, and we are also developing a fly-tipping toolkit with National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group to help spread best practice among local authorities on tackling the issue.

Executive Director of the Environmental Services Association, Jacob Hayler, said:

We welcome any measures that make it easier for householders to dispose of waste correctly and responsibly at their local Household Waste Recycling Centre, which in turn reduces the chance of it falling into the hands of criminals or being fly-tipped.

Tackling the scourge of waste crime, from low-level fly-tipping to industrial-scale illegal operations, will require a multifaceted approach which is why we also support additional measures being introduced to help local authorities and to implement digital waste tracking alongside reform of the licensing regime for waste carriers, brokers and dealers.

The Government clarified the law in 2015 that local taxpayers should not be charged for disposing of household waste at civic amenity sites – scrapping backdoor “tip taxes”. It has also repeatedly stated that councils should not be charging for such DIY household waste disposal either.

The changes announced today clarify that DIY household waste should be treated the same as household waste.

These reforms will protect the local environment by encouraging responsible waste disposal, whilst keeping down the cost of living for households.

The Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey has this week reaffirmed the UK’s commitment to improving global food security through sustainable agriculture.

Speaking at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Meeting in Hyderabad, India, the Secretary of State urged countries to come together and harness the power of nature to get food to people’s plates both now and for future generations.

The meeting focused on identifying actions and solutions to help tackle global food security and nutrition, including moving to sustainable agriculture to lower impacts on climate and environment while increasing global food security, and ensuring agriculture and food systems are more resilient to shocks.

Ministers also discussed how we can achieve more sustainable food supply chains to reduce impacts such as deforestation caused by unsustainable agriculture, as well as the importance of long-term action and support for farmers and rural communities to ensure we can continue to feed a growing population.

The Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey said:

Building more resilient food security must be an urgent, ongoing priority for G20 and sustainable agriculture must be at the heart of our efforts.

As well as making the most of science, tech and innovation, we need to recognise that protecting and supporting the power of nature is essential, and in many cases the most effective and cost-effective way to roll out solutions at scale.

These discussions build on the UK’s ongoing commitment to develop and scale-up more sustainable agricultural practices at an international level and follows the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) Summit in Washington last month. At the Summit, the UK announced a £3 million investment to help fund a new consortium to develop, test and scale up new and alternative fertilisers that can enhance soil health and agricultural productivity.

It also builds on strides the UK is making at home to support farmers to run sustainable, profitable and productive farming businesses. This includes more than £168 million in grants being made available to farmers this year to drive innovation, support food production, improve animal health and welfare and protect the environment, as well as accelerating the roll out of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Up to £30 million has recently been awarded to cutting-edge farming projects that will boost food production, move towards net zero, and create a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector. Meanwhile, the second round of Landscape Recovery launched last month to support up to 25 more projects to protect and restore thousands of acres of the English landscape.

The government has launched a six-week consultation on expanding its targets to tackle sewage even further to cover all coasts, estuaries and marine protected sites (12 June 2023).

The Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, published in August 2022, set out stringent targets to protect people and the environment, backed up by £56 billion capital investment – the largest infrastructure programme in water company history.

Since then, the government has continued to drive action to hold water companies to account, bring in tougher regulation and accelerate infrastructure to tackle pollution. Building on the measures in the plan to address the overflows causing the most harm first, the government is now consulting for six weeks on expanding the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan to cover all coastal and estuarine overflows. The current Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan covers 91% of storm overflows.

The government has always been clear that it will go further and faster to tackle the issue of storm overflows wherever possible. The consultation follows the government announcing that targets to reduce storm overflow discharges will be enshrined in law through the Environment Act 2021.

The government’s intention to consult on the targets was set out last month. The consultation has now launched and will be open until 24 July 2023, and follows the Environment Secretary’s demand to water companies earlier this year to share individual action plans on every storm overflow, including coastal and estuarine, this summer.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said:

While 93% of our beaches with designated bathing status are already rated excellent or good, there is still more to do to better protect our hugely important coasts and estuaries.

That is why I am consulting to extend our stringent targets to cover every storm overflow in England – protecting people and the environment across the country.

The targets outlined in the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan provide an achievable, credible route to tackling sewage and delivering the improvements customers expect without disproportionately impacting consumer bills.

Further information

• The Plan for Water set out the government’s strategy to tackle all sources of pollution – not just storm overflows, but also agriculture, plastics, road run-off and chemicals – as well as managing the pressures on our water resources. It set out action to clean up our water through more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement on those who pollute.

Measures include:

More investment

• £1.6 billion of accelerated investment by water companies, to spend on new infrastructure to start in the next 2 years to tackle pollution and increase our water resilience – including £1.1 billion on storm overflow improvements.
• Delivering long-term catchment action plans – community-led schemes which aim to improve waterways and surrounding eco-systems – backed up by new funding, to improve all water bodies in England. This follows the credit scheme launched by Natural England to offset the environmental impact of new housing developments.
• Creating a new Water Restoration Fund, using money from water company fines and penalties to support local environmental projects, like re-meandering rivers and restoring habitats.
• More than doubling the money for slurry infrastructure by increasing funding to £34 million for farmers to improve slurry storage, reducing a major source of water pollution, with a further £31 million announced this week under the Productivity and Slurry Grant to support farmers procure equipment and technology.
• Leveraging £1 million investment in partnership projects each year to improve chalk catchments to help protect these rare and irreplaceable habitats. This is in addition to taking forward the recommendations from the Chalk Stream Strategy.
• Launching a £6.6 million Lowland Peat Research and Development programme in 2023 to identify the best way to reduce emissions from lowland peatlands.

Stronger regulation

• Consulting on banning the sale of plastic wet wipes. We have also written to relevant producers about ‘flushable’ labelling on wet wipe packaging.
• Enabling key water supply infrastructure – such as reservoirs and water transfer schemes – to be built more quickly.
• Bringing forward the deadline for water companies to reduce chemicals in wastewater treatment to 2027.
• Consulting on extending environmental permits to cover dairy and intensive beef farms, and to improve how this is done for pig and poultry farms, in order to better manage sources of pollution.
• Develop new proposals to restrict the use of ‘forever’ chemicals (PFAS) found in our rivers and seas – including proposals for a ban on PFAS in fire-fighting foams following recommendations made by the Health and Safety Executive.
• Launching a new National Policy Statement on water resources so that key water supply infrastructure – such as reservoirs and water transfer schemes – can be built more quickly.
• Integrating water and flood planning to target actions where they will have the biggest impact for nature.
• Reducing water demand by encouraging water companies to consider how to rapidly increase smart meter installations for household and non-household customers.

Tougher enforcement

• Consulting on unlimited fines for polluting water companies. This follows recent action from Ofwat to ensure dividends are clearly linked to company performance for customers and the environment, as well as tighter measures on water company executive bonuses.
• Increasing permit charges on water companies to fund more EA water company inspections, with new inspection targets.
• Reviewing and updating the existing memorandum of understanding between the Environment Agency and Ofwat for enhanced joint regulatory oversight of water companies.

Farmers will benefit from new equipment and technology to boost sustainable food production and reduce emissions and waste after £31 million was today (Thursday 8 June) made available in the latest round of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF).

Successful applicants can now claim for grants under the Productivity and Slurry budget to help cover the costs of over 90 pieces of equipment, from rainwater harvesting tanks to reduce water scarcity for farmers in the summer; tree shears to help stop the spread of pests and diseases; to equipment to minimise grass contamination and ammonia emissions when spreading slurry.

The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund provides funding to farming businesses so they can invest in the tools they need to improve sustainable production across agriculture, horticulture and forestry. Productivity and Slurry grants will specifically support the procurement of equipment and technology that will help farmers use fewer inputs, reduce emissions and cut waste.

With over 3,000 applications received for the FETF 2023 Productivity and Slurry grants, the government is matching this high demand by increasing the total funding offered from £17 million to £31 million. Twenty-one additional items have been added under the scheme in 2023, including camera-guided inter-row sprayers to help reduce herbicide usage, and mulchers for forestry, orchards and vineyards to help reduce input costs and improve carbon retention in the soil.

This will ensure as many farmers as possible can claim for the equipment they need to run a profitable farming business that delivers for both food production and the environment.

Secretary of State for Food and Farming Thérèse Coffey said:

The tremendous interest shown in the FETF 2023 Productivity and Slurry underscores the determination of our farmers to drive ever more productive and sustainable farming practices to keep food on our plates whilst protecting our important landscapes and habitats.

By empowering farms to invest cash in new kit, we are ensuring our farmers, growers and foresters have the equipment they need to embrace innovation, protect the environment, and contribute to a thriving and sustainable agricultural sector.

Items applied for in the FETF 2023 Productivity and Slurry budget include:

• Direct drill with fertiliser placement for precision drilling of arable and cover crops to help reduce crop establishment costs and increase efficiency of fertiliser usage. 250 applicants to be offered this grant worth £6.25m.
• Robotic drill and guided hoe – an autonomous robotic vehicle which can precisely place seed in the ground and return to mechanically weed – this helps to reduce herbicide usage and associated costs. Ten applications accepted with a value of £250,000.
• Rainwater harvesting tanks with a minimum capacity of 5,000 litres which will help to reduce water scarcity for farmers in the summer months. This equipment will now benefit 86 recipients with a value of £110,802.
• Tree shears with the capacity to fell 300mm diameter trees to stop the spread of pests and diseases across our woodlands. This funding helped 113 recipients with a total value of £363,747.
• Dribble bars with a minimum working width of 6m designed to apply slurry to the soil surface as accurately as possible to minimise grass contamination and ammonia emissions. This equipment was made accessible to 94 farmers, amounting to a value of £403,200.
• Direct drills with a width of 3m to conserve moisture and reduces soil erosion. This initiative assisted 129 applicants, totalling £1.555m in value.

The FETF 2023 forms part of the government’s wider manifesto commitment to invest £2.4 billion per year in farming for the rest of this Parliament. In 2023 alone, £168 million is being made available to increase farming productivity through 16 different grants and competitions themed around productivity, research and innovation.

The FETF 2023 is made up of two themes: Animal Health and Welfare, and Productivity and Slurry. The Animal Health and Welfare FETF 2023 has been given a separate portal to streamline the application process and has seen 66 new items added to its books. Applicants can still apply to the Animal Health and Welfare strand of FETF 2023 until the 15 June 2023.

We intend to offer further rounds of FETF funding. Meanwhile, our larger grants offering will support further investment in water storage and improving irrigation slurry infrastructure, as well as funding for automation and robotics.

This announcement follows the Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street last month where the government announced a package of support for the farming sector, including new measures to ensure the sector remains at the forefront of adopting new technologies and techniques.

The HS2 Woodland Fund has re-opened for applications today (Tuesday 30 May), supporting projects that create and restore woodland along the High Speed Two (HS2) Phase One route.

The HS2 Woodland Fund has reopened to new applications, with £3.25m available to support woodland creation and the restoration of plantations of ancient woodland sites (PAWS). First launched in November 2017 and managed by the Forestry Commission on behalf of HS2 Ltd, the fund is available for landowners located up to 25 miles from phase one of the route from London to the West Midlands.

The Woodland Creation aspect of the fund will now be available under the Forestry Commission’s England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO). Funding for the restoration of PAWS will remain as a standalone offer and will be open to applications over the next two years. Applications will be assessed four times per year, with the first deadline on 30 June 2023.

Sir William Worsley, Forestry Commission Chair, said:

We must ensure that woodlands and habitats impacted by HS2 are effectively restored and protected.

By facilitating the creation of new woodland, and bringing new life to ancient woodlands, the HS2 Woodland Fund will continue to be instrumental in ensuring that any loss from the project is sufficiently compensated for.

HS2’s Biodiversity Lead David Prys-Jones said:

The HS2 Woodland Fund, a component of our extensive Green Corridor environmental programme, is designed to help landowners near to the HS2 route create new native, broadleaved woodlands and restore existing ancient woodland sites.

This forms part of HS2’s wider strategy to create a network of bigger, better-connected, climate resilient habitats and new green spaces for people and wildlife to enjoy.

Eligible landowners are encouraged to consider their plans and discuss potential applications with the Forestry Commission.

Application forms are available from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hs2-woodland-fund. A new case study is also available to read about a landowner’s experience of applying to the HS2 Woodland Fund and restoring an ancient woodland site. To plant trees in the 2023/24 planting season applications will need to be received by 30 June 2023.

HS2 Woodland Fund

• The HS2 Woodland Fund re-opens in May 2023 and will remain open year-round, it has been extended for two years, up until March 2025.
• To apply now, please complete the application form by 30 June 2023, to plant trees in the 2023/24 planting season.
• Applications will be assessed four times per year, and the first application deadline is 30 June 2023.
• Applications submitted by 30 June 2023 will be assessed by a panel in July 2023 before being assigned to a Woodland Officer. Decisions will be communicated by end of October 2023, giving proposals the best chance to be implemented during winter 23/24.
• In June 2021, Defra and the FC launched the England Woodland Creation Offer (EWCO), and so the woodland creation element of the HS2 Woodland Fund will now be directed to support woodland creation via EWCO.
• PAWS been extended for two years, up until March 2025.
• Applications will be assessed four times per year, and the first application deadline is 30 June 2023.
• Applications submitted by 30 June 2023 will be assessed by a panel in July 2023 before being assigned to a Woodland Officer, decisions will be communicated by end of October 2023, giving proposals the best chance to be implemented during winter 23/24.