Dr Coffey was appointed to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) by Prime Minister Theresa May two weeks ago following the promotion of Rory Stewart to International Development.
However, it was not confirmed at the time whether she would inherit the former parliamentary undersecretary of state’s responsibilities for steering waste and recycling policy.
Confirmation that Dr Coffey would be overseeing waste and resources at government level was made clear on the Defra website this afternoon – where her ministerial duties as parliamentary undersecretary of state for the Environment and Rural Opportunities were published.
Responsibilities
Her responsibilities include:
- natural environment, including biodiversity, the marine environment, and international wildlife trafficking
- rural life opportunities, covering rural childcare, education and skills, and health
- floods, water and waterways
- air quality
- waste management
Dr Coffey was previously the deputy leader of the House of Commons serving under Chris Grayling and served on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee until she was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Michael Fallon, minister for business and energy. Mr Fallon had responsibility for the WEEE directive which is now overseen by Defra.
It remains to be seen whether Dr Coffey will take up Mr Stewart’s campaign to harmonise recycling collections or will choose to pursue her own agenda. The new Secretary of State for Defra – Andrea Leadsom – is known to have supported retaining weekly refuse collections in previous years.
Brief
Some waste industry members are likely to be frustrated that Dr Coffey will preside over the ‘waste management’ brief, which was entitled the more progressive ‘resource and environmental management’ when Mr Stewart took up the role in May 2015.
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