Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
New Towns: Laying the Foundations (Built Environment Committee Report)
My Lords, I welcome the Select Committee report, particularly its emphasis on an infrastructure-first approach, mandatory basic design standards and capturing land values. I welcome the overall direction set out in the Government’s consultation on the draft new towns programme and policy, particular…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
King’s Speech
My Lords, it is a great privilege to follow the speech that we have just heard and I hope we will all ponder it. I am going to be a bit more frivolous in my contribution. When I saw the notice of the King’s Speech debate arrangements, I felt a bit like Cinderella, with everybody going to the ball ex…
Lords
Committee Stage
11 February 2026
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I support Amendment 239, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Boycott. I will be brief, given the stage of the evening we are at. She gave me a good lead line there in talking about Incredible Edible. A friend of mine founded that movement, which does what this amendment would enable mo…
I finish by saying that I also support the amendments so ably put forward by the noble Baronesses, Lady Freeman and Lady Bennett, about bringing forward the third leg of the three-legged stool that is supposed to be sustainability. It is difficult to sit on a two-legged stool; why is the environment…
Lords
Committee Stage
9 February 2026
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I too support Amendment 241B in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, to which I have added my name. I also support Amendment 192 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, which was moved so ably by the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. In fact, I thi…
Quite a lot of local authorities are doing well on this. Many of the things that they are delivering do not require additional funding but are about making the right decisions on their day-to-day routine responsibilities for planning, regeneration, growth, urban development and all sorts of things. …
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I have one note of question. We are all quoting Kim Leadbeater and how she felt about the Oregon example, but, in fact, it may be that she was not talking about the issue of videolinking but about assessments that were done solely on the basis of paperwork. I think we need to find out exactly what K…
Lords
Proceedings
30 January 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, I will make one point on behalf of silent Back-Benchers across the House. If we are not actively speaking to amendments, the only opportunity to express a view about the elements of the Bill will be when we get to vote. On the current progress, we are never going to get to that point. Pers…
Lords
Proceedings
27 January 2026
Warm Homes Plan
My Lords, I welcome the Statement from the bottom of my heart because, for a long time, I have been very uneasy that we have approaching 1.6 million children living in conditions that can only be described as Dickensian. It simply should not happen in a modern UK. We are uniquely exposed to the vola…
Lords
Committee Stage
27 January 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 46, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley. Spatial development strategies are a really big opportunity and much to be welcomed. We have long needed a spatial view at that sort of level, so we have to get this right because there is a lot that they can deliv…
Lords
Proceedings
19 January 2026
Offshore Wind
My Lords, I commend the Minister on this Statement and welcome it very much. It is a welcome return from the terrible days when you put out an auction and nobody played the game. It really was quite heartbreaking when we had those dreadful doldrum days.
I shall focus on something that the noble Lor…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Environmental Improvement Plan 2025
I had no idea.
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone. Although the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 applies only to England, as we all know, nature does not understand county, country or political lines. I therefore declare my farming and land management interests in W…
Lords
Committee Stage
16 December 2025
Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 7 and 7A, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Callanan, even though he has not yet introduced them.
The Chagos Islands are a globally important area. This is the first time in the documented history of the human race that a marine protected area of this importan…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
Drax
I cannot assure the noble Baroness that terms will be changed during the new contract. However, the LCCC will be responsible for making sure that the 100% sustainability criteria that have been entered into in the new contract will be strictly observed. That is a substantial step forward from the pr…
Lords
Debate
24 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I too thank the Minister for the discussions and assurances she has given us on Motion K1. I was rather fond of Motion K1 and would have preferred the amendments in it being in the Bill—it represented a fair compromise. The reasons why it is very important are threefold. One is partly to p…
Lords
Proceedings
13 November 2025
Biodiversity and the Countryside
My Lords, I am delighted to join this debate: it is always wonderful to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Young. It is something close to my own research expertise, but, before I join this debate, I must declare my interests as noted in the register, specifically my role as a non-executive director an…
Lords
Debate
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, to which I have put my name. I will talk briefly about the opportunity that the new towns offer by ensuring that they are beacons for providing green and blue space close to where people live, especially for deprived c…
I do not want to take up the time of the House at this stage of the evening, but I want to speak against Amendment 250 in the name of the noble Lords, Lord Banner, Lord Pannick, Lord Grabiner and Lord O’Donnell. I absolutely agree with the noble Lord, Lord O’Donnell, in one respect, that it is a bac…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, it would be exceptional if I did not support this amendment, in that it takes the provisions of my Private Member’s Bill and puts them into the amendment—so it would be a bit two-faced of me if I did not support it.
The noble Baroness, Lady Grender, has laid out clearly what the issue is.…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I support Amendment 148 and thank the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for introducing it so clearly. It is quite a modest little amendment because all it asks is that, within six months, the Government publish draft regulations that would address a number of issues that have been of concer…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I briefly add one further point to the support for Amendment 114, to which I put my name. I am sure the Minister will tell us that local authorities and Ministers already have responsibilities for the roles outlined in the amendment, including in the NPPF, but this would bring the responsi…
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, for her introduction to this amendment, to which I put my name.
I have read carefully what the Minister said in Committee and during the various meetings that have taken place, which she kindly arranged. I am comforted somewhat by the assurances gi…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I too support Amendment 88 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, to which I have put my name. This is a time of huge opportunity. We are going to be building an unprecedented number of houses and creating 10 new towns, and the value that can be added to that effort by open green …
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, the Government’s Amendment 64 was billed by the Minister, in the letter that she wrote to all Peers laying it out, as seeking to address a minor gap. I am not sure about that. I think other noble Lords have also expressed different concerns from mine. I take this opportunity to seek reassu…
My Lords, I will speak to two amendments in this group. Government Amendment 68 would permit Natural England to not respond to requests for advice under Section 4(1) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, so that it can prioritise more important cases. That reflects pretty well what i…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will briefly speak in support of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, on his Amendment 44, which I put my name to. The Forestry Commission is a really important organisation; it is the largest landowner in England. What it does can not only influence the Government’s climate and biodiversity ta…
Lords
Debate
17 September 2025
10 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I agree—let us not discuss it now.
Amendment 309A in my name may not be required, but I would like some reassurance from the Minister. As currently drafted, the Bill outlines Natural England’s role under the nature restoration levy in spending funds and in monitoring the implementation of…
My Lords, I very rarely disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Curry, because he knows a lot, and I very rarely disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, because otherwise, he might poison my breakfast—but on this occasion, I feel I have to comment.
I understand entirely that the noble Lord, Lord Cu…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
17 September 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, my Amendment 285AA is about the way in which the Secretary of State approves EDPs. As currently drafted, the Bill says:
“The Secretary of State may make the EDP”—
that is, approve it—
“only if the Secretary of State considers that the EDP passes the overall improvement test”.
The “over…
I thank the Minister for her clarification. That is a bit of a relief, to be frank, because most MHCLG Secretaries of State are not appointed for their depth of ecological knowledge, nor indeed are the civil servants in that department.
However, that does not overcome the principal problem that the…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
15 September 2025
7 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I briefly remind the Committee, and also the Minister, that much of this could be avoided by implementing the land use framework approach to land use, which is a method and tool intended entirely at various scales—national, local, regional and on individual land holdings—to balance all the…
There are three reactions coming to the fore about Part 3. A bunch of folk want to kill it because it is awful and unnecessary; a bunch of folk are predisposed to accept it, because although with the government amendments it is still not very good it is good enough, and we can probably get more amen…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
11 September 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I support everything that the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, has just said about Amendment 178—apart from his remarks about my expertise in land use frameworks. I am not expert; I am just old and have been around the block for so long promoting the idea of land use frameworks that people get confused ab…
My Lords, I support Amendment 164 from the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, who has laid out the case very clearly. Local planning authorities are vital if the Government and we as a nation are going to achieve the legally binding targets and programmes for climate, environment and biodiversity liste…
+2 more contributions in this session