Once notified, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will alert stakeholders such as local authorities, environmental regulators, including Department for Fisheries and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and other relevant organisations via a standard pollution report known as POLREP. The POLREP is an established mechanism for alerting relevant UK government authorities. If cargo is likely to impact the shoreline the local authorities will also be contacted by telephone to provide additional briefing and to ensure the POLREP was received and content noted.

Additionally, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will contact the relevant Standing Environment Group and discuss whether it would be appropriate to formally activate an operational Environment Group. The Environment Group will provide advice on potential environmental sensitivities which may be impacted by the incident or the responses being considered for dealing with the pollution. As a minimum the membership of the Environment Group will be comprised of the environmental regulator, statutory nature conservation body, fisheries regulator and public health body relevant to the incident location.

Responsibility for clean up on the shoreline sits with the local authority or landowner. If the local authority determine the incident to warrant a multiagency response, as per civil contingency emergency response arrangements, the MCA would be represented in those meetings to provide updates on any ongoing maritime operations (salvage and pollution response), deliver the outputs of any aerial or satellite surveillance and to provide advice in relation to impacts of the containers and their contents.

Identification and recovery of lost containers is the responsibility of the owners and insurers of the vessel. In the recent incident in the Solent, surveys were commissioned by the vessel’s insurers, working with the Deputy Secretary of State’s Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and the Department for Transport.

Local navigation warnings remain in place as a precaution whilst further surveys are considered. The clean-up and recovery of containers on the shoreline has been led by West Sussex County Council.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is conducting a safety investigation into the recent incident of loss of containers at sea. This will establish the cause of events that led to this incident to understand why it happened and make recommendations to prevent similar incidents reoccurring.

Foreign Flagged vessels in UK ports are subject to Port State Control Inspections in line with the Paris Memorandum of Understanding, an Inspection Regime to which the UK is a committed signatory. Cargo securing is subject to inspection at these attendances.

UK Flagged vessels to which the International Safety Management Code applies are audited in relation to vessel operations, including cargo stowage and securing. Vessels required to have Cargo Securing Manuals have these approved either by the MCA or by a Recognised Organisation authorised to do so on their behalf. UK vessels are also subject to general inspections.

Q4

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Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con):

Last year, the cargo vessel Baltic Clipper lost 16 containers off the beautiful West Sussex coastline. Beaches and seas in my constituency have been polluted with toxic debris. The clean-up was initiated and led almost exclusively by resolute local volunteers. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute to all those involved for their extraordinary efforts? Will he, or the relevant Minister, meet me to ensure that the coastline is restored and that local taxpayers will not pick up any costs?

Let me join the hon. Member in paying tribute to the agencies and local volunteers who supported the clean-up efforts; they are the very best. Liability sits with the polluter, and agencies and her local authority should work with the responsible party to recover the costs. I will ensure that she gets the meeting she asked for with the appropriate Minister.

The Home Office does not publish data on recorded detections at UK ports broken down by where they were found, in the Irregular Migration to the UK statistics release.

The Home Office does not publish data on recorded detections in the UK broken down by detections at ports serviced by juxtaposed controls, in the Irregular Migration to the UK statistics release.

My Department has been monitoring international shipping operations and engaging closely with the sector throughout the period of operational challenges and price rises. Shipping costs rose to a high level in international freight markets during 2021 as a result of unprecedented levels of demand driven by changed consumer behaviour during the pandemic, and global operational factors that impacted capacity. These issues continue in 2022.

Historical trends in the shipping sector are of pricing peaks and troughs, and it is expected that pricing levels will similarly re-adjust when the current demand drivers change, and operational factors improve.

I refer my Hon. Friend for Wycombe to the answer I gave him on the 26^th November 2021, UIN: 77444.

I refer my hon Friend the Member for Wycombe to the answer I gave on December 3, to Question UIN 84344 https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2021-11-30/84344 where I noted that my Department is closely engaged with other government departments on this matters. This includes teams in the Secretary of State for International Trade’s Department.

My Department is engaging with, and closely monitoring, the sector, along with other government departments. Shipping costs during 2021 have risen to a global high level in international freight markets as a result of unprecedented levels of demand driven by changed consumer behaviour during the pandemic.

Historical trends in the shipping sector shows pricing responds to supply and demand. Although industry estimates that high levels of demand and pricing are likely to continue into 2022, it is expected that pricing levels should similarly re-adjust when the current demand drivers change.

Nevertheless, Government continues to engage with the sector and will consider options to act in any helpful and appropriate way.

Shipping containers are used at some Community Payback sites, primarily as storage facilities. Staff working at sites with shipping containers will also have access to a Probation building in their region for office and welfare facilities.

Following unification of the service in June 2021, we are continuing to review the Community Payback estate, this includes assessing what sites are used for, the facilities available, and any storage amenities on site, including the number of shipping containers.

At this stage we are not able to provide an exact breakdown of the number of shipping containers currently on Community Payback sites.

Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) provided front-line probation services for medium-low risk offenders from 2015 to June 2021. All front-line probation services transferred to the Probation Service on 26 June, in addition to assets that were required for the operation of services under the Unified Model.

CRCs will have had sub-contracting arrangements for their back-office operations, including shipping container installation and maintenance. These contractual relationships were between the CRC and their contractors.

During the lifetime of the contracts, CRCs were not obligated to provide an annual breakdown of spend on their back-office operations to the Authority and we, therefore, do not hold this data.

All Community Payback facilities on site, including shipping containers, are subject to risk assessments. These assessments consider all foreseeable hazards and reduce the risk of harm to a reasonable level.

Shipping containers are primarily used as tool stores and our existing risk assessments outline the health and safety concerns associated with depots and tool stores.

Following unification of the Probation Service, HMPPS is developing a generic risk assessment for all Community Payback units, alongside a safe working practice document to detail the procedures for using the unit.

The UK Government has made no assessment of carbon emissions produced by the export of UK waste. The UK monitors and reports emissions from the shipping industry through the National Emissions Inventory but this information is not disaggregated to the level of individual cargo movements.

Between 2017 and 2020 the Environment Agency inspected and prevented the departure of the following containers. The Environment Agency also issued the following stop notices in respect to suspected illegal waste shipments over the same period.

The reasons for preventing the departure of these containers included:

• The proposed recovery site did not exist or was not permitted to accept waste,
• The proposed shipment was not in compliance with the correct procedure,
• Issues with waste quality, for example, the level of contamination,
• The required paperwork was not present, was incomplete or completed incorrectly,
• The waste was not permitted for export to a non-OECD country

All waste exports need to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the UK regulators have a system of inspections in place to verify compliance. The UK regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place.

In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. The conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the Environment Agency with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites.

Stop notices are issued prior to the export of waste when the Environment Agency suspect a shipment to be illegal (this could be for single containers, or multiple containers). The notice is served on those in control of the waste at the time. There are usually multiple parties involved in the waste shipment process including load sites, brokers, freight forwarders, hauliers, shipping lines etc. Liability for the illegal export of waste is potentially held throughout the waste export chain and therefore only through conducting investigations are the Environment Agency able to determine a definitive number of parties involved.

Plastic recycling is carried out at many waste management sites across England and numerous sites will accept incidental amounts of plastic waste, as such it is not possible to give exact figures for the number of plastic reprocessing facilities in England.

It is possible however, to give the following figures for treatment sites that accepted over 1,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year up to the year 2019. This information has been extracted from data held by the Environment Agency, using European Waste Catalogue codes denoting plastic waste.

The UK Government has made no assessment of carbon emissions produced by the export of UK waste. The UK monitors and reports emissions from the shipping industry through the National Emissions Inventory but this information is not disaggregated to the level of individual cargo movements.

Between 2017 and 2020 the Environment Agency inspected and prevented the departure of the following containers. The Environment Agency also issued the following stop notices in respect to suspected illegal waste shipments over the same period.

The reasons for preventing the departure of these containers included:

• The proposed recovery site did not exist or was not permitted to accept waste,
• The proposed shipment was not in compliance with the correct procedure,
• Issues with waste quality, for example, the level of contamination,
• The required paperwork was not present, was incomplete or completed incorrectly,
• The waste was not permitted for export to a non-OECD country

All waste exports need to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the UK regulators have a system of inspections in place to verify compliance. The UK regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place.

In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. The conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the Environment Agency with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites.

Stop notices are issued prior to the export of waste when the Environment Agency suspect a shipment to be illegal (this could be for single containers, or multiple containers). The notice is served on those in control of the waste at the time. There are usually multiple parties involved in the waste shipment process including load sites, brokers, freight forwarders, hauliers, shipping lines etc. Liability for the illegal export of waste is potentially held throughout the waste export chain and therefore only through conducting investigations are the Environment Agency able to determine a definitive number of parties involved.

Plastic recycling is carried out at many waste management sites across England and numerous sites will accept incidental amounts of plastic waste, as such it is not possible to give exact figures for the number of plastic reprocessing facilities in England.

It is possible however, to give the following figures for treatment sites that accepted over 1,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year up to the year 2019. This information has been extracted from data held by the Environment Agency, using European Waste Catalogue codes denoting plastic waste.

The UK Government has made no assessment of carbon emissions produced by the export of UK waste. The UK monitors and reports emissions from the shipping industry through the National Emissions Inventory but this information is not disaggregated to the level of individual cargo movements.

Between 2017 and 2020 the Environment Agency inspected and prevented the departure of the following containers. The Environment Agency also issued the following stop notices in respect to suspected illegal waste shipments over the same period.

The reasons for preventing the departure of these containers included:

• The proposed recovery site did not exist or was not permitted to accept waste,
• The proposed shipment was not in compliance with the correct procedure,
• Issues with waste quality, for example, the level of contamination,
• The required paperwork was not present, was incomplete or completed incorrectly,
• The waste was not permitted for export to a non-OECD country

All waste exports need to be made in accordance with the relevant legislation and the UK regulators have a system of inspections in place to verify compliance. The UK regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place.

In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. The conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the Environment Agency with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites.

Stop notices are issued prior to the export of waste when the Environment Agency suspect a shipment to be illegal (this could be for single containers, or multiple containers). The notice is served on those in control of the waste at the time. There are usually multiple parties involved in the waste shipment process including load sites, brokers, freight forwarders, hauliers, shipping lines etc. Liability for the illegal export of waste is potentially held throughout the waste export chain and therefore only through conducting investigations are the Environment Agency able to determine a definitive number of parties involved.

Plastic recycling is carried out at many waste management sites across England and numerous sites will accept incidental amounts of plastic waste, as such it is not possible to give exact figures for the number of plastic reprocessing facilities in England.

It is possible however, to give the following figures for treatment sites that accepted over 1,000 tonnes of plastic waste per year up to the year 2019. This information has been extracted from data held by the Environment Agency, using European Waste Catalogue codes denoting plastic waste.

We have not conducted a specific economic assessment. Government has been working closely with the freight sector and wider business to mitigate the impact on UK supply chains of this global issue.

Responsibility for customs detection activity at the border was transferred from HMRC to UK Border Agency (UKBA), now Border Force in 2009. From that time Border Force has been responsible for frontline operations at the border, including enforcing customs regulations and conducting anti-smuggling activity. This includes anti-smuggling activity directed against illicit exports.