Lord Henley left his post at Defra to become crime prevention minister at the Home Office in a small government reshuffle due to the stepping down of the current incumbent, Baroness Browning, due to ill-health.
Lord Taylor, who has a good grounding in the waste sector, entered the House of Lords in 2006 having been made a life peer as Baron Taylor of Holbeach, of South Holland in the county of Lincolnshire.
Career
He has been a government spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Energy and Climate Change, and Work and Pensions since 2010. He has also served as a Whip in the House of Lords. He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992 for political service, and served as chairman of the National Conservative Convention from 2000 to 2003. He was also shadow Environment Minister from 2006-7 and 2007-10.
Importantly for the recycling sector, LordTaylor already has a knowledge of waste and recycling issues. He lists waste among his political interests and was previously co-chair of the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group, which facilitates dialogue between politicians and industryconcerningwaste. He has also been outspoken on topics ranging from the London Waste and Recycling Board and energy-from-waste to landfill diversion.
Henley
Lord Henley was first appointed as recycling minister when the coalition government came to power in May 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story). He has been appointed as Minister of State at the Home Office with special responsibility for crime prevention and anti-social behaviour reduction. His new brief will include the drugs strategy, licensing and community activism. He will also lead all Home Office business in the House of Lords.
Lord Henley became well-known in the waste sector having made a large number of visits to see waste and recycling facilities for himself. He also had input into the 2011 Waste Review and was thought to have been unimpressed with pressure from the Eric Pickles, secretary of state at the department for communities and local government, over weekly waste collections.
Register for free to comment