asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will help the supermarkets, other retail outlets and local authorities to accelerate the current programme of restricting the use of plastic bags. [HL922]

The Government pledged in Waste Strategy for England 2007 to phase out free single-use carrier bags and we are working with retailers and local authorities on the best means by which we can achieve this objective.

The UK retail sector has set itself a shared objective with the Government and the Waste and Resources Action Programme to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25 per cent by the end of 2008.

The Prime Minister announced on 19 November that we need to go further—to eliminate single-use carrier bags altogether in favour of long-lasting and more sustainable alternatives. The Government will be convening a forum of supermarkets, the British Retail Consortium and other interested groups urgently to assess how, and how quickly, we can achieve this objective.