To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans his Department has to work with the Department of Communities and Local Government on the implementation of the Waste Strategy for England 2007; and whether he will integrate (a) small, (b) medium and (c) large-scale biological treatment facilities within this implementation. (154153)

My Department has established a Waste Strategy Board to drive forward and monitor delivery of the Waste Strategy for England 2007 across Government. The board includes representatives from the other Government Departments with a key interest in waste, including Communities and Local Government (CLG), and we will be working closely with these Departments in implementing the strategy.

My Department is also working with CLG to take forward specific aspects of the strategy, including planning for waste infrastructure, pollution control, waste aspects of the local government performance framework, and proposals to remove the ban on local authorities using financial incentives to increase recycling by households.

The strategy sets out the measures that the Government have put in place to secure the investment in infrastructure needed to divert waste from landfill. It remains vital that regional spatial strategies and local development documents look forward and make adequate provision for the appropriate types and scales of infrastructure and waste treatment facilities needed, including biological treatment plants. It is also important for specific, suitable sites to be identified in plans.