My Lords, the Minister began his speech with a ringing declaration: “We must take action”. He set out a very convincing case on financial and environmental grounds for the action that the Government propose to take.
I recall the dedication in the magnum opus of a regius professor: “To my wife, at last, at long, long last”. The key observation is on the process of government and why there has been such a long delay on what is clearly an overwhelming case for action. It is not as though this is some startling brave new initiative on the part of the Government. No, as the Minister said, the proposal is already in force in Wales and has been since 2011. There has been ample time to see the results. It is not some laboratory experiment. We can see the results in Wales already; in Northern Ireland, since 2013; and in Scotland, since last October. It is not as if the results are uncertain. If we have eyes to see, we can clearly see the results. Given the very close nexus between Wales and England, do the Government seriously think that the response of the public and retailers would be different in England? All this vast expenditure on research and consultation in England is surely otiose. The views of the Welsh public are already well known. Do the Government have any strong indication that Welsh public opinion is different? The effect of all this is further cost and degradation.
I recall that in my Parliamentary Question on 14 May 2013, I asked,
“the pilot scheme in Wales has lasted for several years. Will the Minister spell out very clearly the objections to the implementation of the scheme in England?”.
The Minister answered:
“My Lords, as I just said, we are monitoring the charging scheme in Wales and data from the first year will not be available until the summer”.—[Official Report, 14/5/13; col. 264.]
That response was given in May. Now almost two years have passed and, even for the limited scope of the Government’s plan, they have been two wasted
years. Since we know that 7.9 billion bags were given out in 2013, the two wasted years effectively amount to almost 16 billion bags. There was a successful test in Wales, which was clearly accepted by the public.
To give my personal position, I shop in supermarkets and retail stores in both Wales and England. There were no concerns in Wales when the charge was introduced. People fall quickly into the habit of taking along shopping bags to the supermarkets. When I shop in London, I do so with exactly the same habit and take along a shopping bag. I am sure that the bulk of people in Wales would do the same.
I note also that in Article 1(d) the Government have suggested an end date of 5 October 2022, as though they are not wholly convinced. What is the purpose of having an end date for this long experiment? It is something that is already working successfully in Wales. Does this mean that the Government are not wholly convinced? We know that a Government can review or end such a situation at any time if they choose to do so. Why include a sunset clause when the evidence is so clear?
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Perhaps I may make a few comments on the Explanatory Memorandum. We are told in paragraph 2.1:
“The Order will ensure that retailers with 250 or more employees charge a minimum amount for unused single use (lightweight) plastic bags”.
What proportion of the total number of plastic bags will be covered by stores employing 250 or more employees? It means that a fairly sizeable number will not be covered, even though the Government are convinced at last of the environmental and financial benefits. Indeed, we are told in paragraph 5.1 that there is,
“a smaller number of retailers located outside England who supply lightweight plastic bags for the purpose of enabling goods to be delivered to persons in England”.
Surely they cannot be from Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland. Where do these bags actually come from? It is made clear in paragraph 7.6 that,
“requiring 5p to be paid for each single use plastic bag supplied will significantly reduce the number that people use. As yet unpublished, social research has suggested that this is acceptable to consumers”.
We could have told the Government that without any recourse to social science research because it is there in plain sight for them to see in the way that this has been accepted in Wales.
I am wholly unconvinced by the Government’s reasons for the delay. We are told, of course, that those with fewer than 250 FTEs will be able to charge on a voluntary basis if they wish, as set out in paragraph 7.8, and that,
“we know of one franchiser who is already encouraging its outlets to do this”.
What sort of reporting and administration will there be? What will happen, for example, if these smaller retailers choose to pocket the sum? Will there be any review of the money that is given to charity?
I could go on analysing all the elements here, but it is clear that the Government should have taken this action a very long time ago. Now they have gone part
of the way along the road with much ado. Any sensible Government would have looked not at a laboratory experiment, but at the actual result in Wales of how the public have responded to the initiative taken there. However, the Government have chosen to ignore that and to carry out their own research, which was both unnecessary and otiose. They should not be applauded for this belated initiative.