Blue Planet 2 served up a much-needed reality check on the harm that humans are causing to our oceans. Rightly, we have reacted quickly but there is still lots to do.

The Government has launched its plan for the environment which involves taking further measures on reducing plastic as well as investing funds into innovation to find viable alternatives. We have also banned microbeads, the tiny beads of plastics found in cosmetic products, which were causing havoc to marine life, and we have cut plastic bag use with 9 billion fewer plastic bags in use than before the 5p charge.

On Wednesday, Environment Secretary Michael Gove announced possible plans for a return scheme to protect oceans from the current tide of waste. The deposit scheme would be similar to existing schemes found in countries including Denmark, Sweden and Germany, and would involve people paying a small deposit (currently 22p in Germany) when they buy plastic bottles and drinks cans. They would get back their deposit back as they returned the items, thus encouraging people to recycle and significantly reduce waste.

There are over 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans and every year one million birds and over 100,000 sea mammals die from eating and getting tangled in plastic waste. Drastic action is needed and we simply cannot continue to buy and dispose of plastic at the rate that we do. We need to see a change in attitudes and behaviour. And the evidence shows that reward and return schemes are a powerful agent of change. Deposit schemes have had good success so far producing average recycle rates for collected materials of 90% - reaching as high as 95% in Norway.

The scheme is of course subject to consultation, with issues including how big the deposit will be, all to be decided. I would urge local residents to feed into this consultation to have their say through the gov.uk website. I am completely supportive of a deposit scheme and believe it is right to take bold action to become a world leader in tackling the scourge of single-use plastic littering our streets, countryside and coastline.

Elsewhere, I had a productive meeting with Young Enterprise this week, a charity which aims to empower young people to harness their personal and business skills through training in primary and secondary schools as well as universities. As a former business owner, I know just how important it is to equip young people with the relevant skills that employers are looking for. I have done a lot of work with Young Enterprise since 2010 and have continued to support their efforts. Our meeting in Parliament was very productive and I am looking forward to getting involved with a new pilot course involving sport – an enjoyable way to help get youngsters engaged with business and enthusiastic about enterprise.

Finally, I hope that everybody has a very enjoyable Easter weekend. If you are stuck for something to do on Saturday, it is Family Day at Swindon Supermarine Football Club with adult tickets costing only £2 when attending the game with a child. Under 11’s receive free admission and there will be plenty of Easter eggs on offer, as well as half time displays from the youth teams. Kick-off is at 3pm and with Swindon Town away this weekend, it is the biggest football fixture in Swindon!