In Parliament

Carrier Bag Charge 13 October 2011

Jessica put pressure on the Coalition government's Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to follow the Welsh Government's move to place a 5p charge on carrier bags in order to encourage people to reuse and avoid waste. 

"Jessica Morden: The Labour-led Welsh Assembly Government this month made Wales the first part of the UK to introduce a carrier bag charge. That was done not to raise money but to encourage reuse and avoid waste. Is the Secretary of State willing to take the lead from Wales, in view of the Department’s recent back-tracking on recycling? 

Mrs Spelman: I do not accept the accusation of back-tracking. My Department has the first waste review policy for 20 years. We are certainly looking at the Welsh proposal and we should consider everything that might deal with elements of litter that are part of our waste prevention strategy. At a European level, the European Commission is looking at the Italian Government’s proposal to ban plastic bags. That has to be considered in a single market context."