Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Extreme Heat: Resilience of NHS Infrastructure
My Lords, I was very pleased to hear the Minister say in response to the Question of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, that all new hospitals and hospital projects in the pipeline will be climate-proofed, and that that will include resistance to extreme heat. However, I would like to ask about care home…
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
Environment Act 2021 Targets
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for arranging a meeting with her officials earlier this year to discuss Defra’s Habitats Regulations General Implementation Report for the Reporting Period 2019 to 2024. The report makes discouraging reading: of the 71 habitat types covered by these regulation…
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
E-scooters and E-bikes
My Lords, where I live, in Oxford, one of the problems with e-bikes and e-scooters is that, all too often, they are dumped on the footpath and block the way for, in particular, mothers with prams and pushchairs, elderly people and the sight-impaired. In this context, in the past 18 months, Kensingto…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Climate Change: Government Action
My Lords, we know that climate change is already having an impact on food production and farmers. In one recent survey, 78% of farmers said that they were impacted by the effects of climate change. Can the Minister tell us what plans the Government have to ensure that food production will continue i…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
EU-UK SPS Agreement: Food-related Standards
My Lords, I would like to follow up on the point about precision breeding raised by other noble Lords. I seek clarification from the Minister about precision-bred products that are about to enter the approvals process with the Food Standards Agency. I am thinking, for example, of the vitamin D-enric…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
Healthy Life Expectancy: England
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that one of the key determinants of healthy life expectancy is diet. In the 10-year health plan, the Government have a welcome section on improving the dietary health of the nation. It was therefore disturbing to note in the Telegraph a few days ago a report that…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
British Farming: Competitiveness
I am going to have to disappoint the noble Lord in that I am not able to discuss any specific carve-outs that we are looking at during the negotiations with the European Union. What I can say is that the innovative areas that he referred to are under discussion, because they are very important both …
Lords
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
2 contributions
Cyclists: Safety
My Lords, well-designed infrastructure, particularly of the kind that provides protection from motor traffic, can improve both safety and perceptions of safety for cyclists. In addition to our £626 million investment in active travel infrastructure that we announced last year, we have now also publi…
My department supports innovation in the local highways sector by creating conditions that enable the safe, evidence-led adoption of new products and approaches, while leaving decisions on individual technologies to local highway authorities. This includes providing record long-term funding for high…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
Environment Agency: Waste Crime
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Sheehan for initiating this debate and for the work she did on the committee.
I will speak first as an amateur archaeologist. That seems a bit random, but I say that because our job as archaeologists is to find things such as middens: waste sites from the past…
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Environmental Improvement Plan 2025
My Lords, the environmental improvement plan sets out how the Government will meet the legally binding targets in Sections 1 to 3 of the Environment Act 2021. These targets cover air quality, biodiversity, water quality, resource efficiency and waste, woodland and trees, and marine protected areas. …
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, both for giving us this opportunity to talk about a very important issue and for his excellent introduction. I, too, welcome the EIP, in particular the concept of delivery plans. However, some of the delivery plans are delivering more than others.
I tur…
Lords
Oral Questions
6 January 2026
Flooding Interventions
The noble Lord is right that Flood Re was set up for a certain period of time. I am doing this from memory, and I shall tell the House if I am wrong, but I think it was due to run through to 2039.
We are looking at possible alternative arrangements. Clearly, the last thing we want to do is take awa…
Lords
Debate
24 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I rise to speak very briefly to Motion K1. I join others in thanking the Minister for her statement from the Dispatch Box, which meets many of the concerns we had, and for the time she and other Ministers spent discussing this with us. I just wanted to allude to one part of her statement, …
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I rise with some trepidation to speak against Amendment 245. In so doing, I emphasise that I have the greatest respect for the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, and his superb work as Environment Minister in your Lordships’ House, as well as respect for the other signatories to this amendment. M…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Youth Mobility Scheme
That is a genuinely interesting question, and that is one of the reasons why our rejoining Erasmus could be so beneficial to our country. One of the issues—which is part of our conversations about the youth mobility scheme, as well as rejoining Erasmus—is the economic impact it will have, while ensu…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I speak in support of Amendment 114 in the name of my noble friend Lord Ravensdale, to which I have added my name. I thank my noble friend for his excellent introduction to the amendment and also for his hard work in the background with the Minister. I also thank the noble Earl, Lord Russe…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, in speaking in support of Amendment 88 in the name of my noble friend Lady Willis of Summertown, I reiterate in particular the point she made in her introduction to the amendment that if, as we have heard on many occasions, the Government’s view is that this amendment is unnecessary becaus…
Lords
Proceedings
27 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
My Lords, I am sure the Minister would agree that there is no point investing in our fishing industry if there are no fish to catch. The sad truth is that, according to Oceana UK’s latest report, Deep Decline , over half of the UK fish stocks are being overfished, particularly the top 10 species. Wh…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 October 2025
Waste Crime
I will have to write to the noble Lord and the House about exactly where the sites are because I do not have that information in front of me. When we came into government, we acted to put pressure on to get that area, Hoads Wood, dealt with, because it had been dragging on for far too long, as the n…
Lords
Oral Questions
11 September 2025
Global Plastic Pollution Treaty
The noble Lord makes a really important point. We have to continue to reduce our own plastic use in this country. Whereas recycling is important, if you do not have to use it in the first place, that is clearly an even better way to behave. We talk to supermarkets on all sorts of issues, and the nob…
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 127, which I have put my name to, ably introduced by the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, and to support the other amendments in this group.
I was glad to hear both the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and the noble Earl, Lord Russell, referring to the w…
My Lords, may I ask a small question? With regard to overheating, which was so eloquently introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, do the Government have any measurement of what proportion of houses that are being built now, as we speak, have within them measures to prevent ov…
Lords
Oral Questions
14 July 2025
Advertising Restrictions on Less Healthy Food
We all know that the issues in the area of obesity are complex. The professor has laid out a compelling piece of research. We will continually review all the information available in this space. Obesity has a huge personal cost to children and to adults as they grow older, and also to society and th…
Lords
Oral Questions
14 July 2025
Rail Freight
The rail freight sector is, of course, a commercial sector, with commercial organisations providing power to freight trains. This Thursday, I am going to launch one of several new tri-mode freight locomotives from one of the operators, and a number of aspects of the Government’s investment plans for…
Lords
Debate
13 June 2025
4 contributions
Environmental Targets (Public Authorities) Bill [HL]
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register—in particular, as the noble Lord, Lord Hamilton of Epsom, has already mentioned, that I chair the independent advisory group on sustainability for the Drax Group.
I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, for meeting me to discuss…
I thank the noble Baroness for pointing that out, and I accept her comment.
To summarise, my three asks of the Government are: first, to tighten the guidance where appropriate, following the interjection of the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, on the existing initiatives aimed at protecting nature and …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
2 contributions
Health: Ultra-processed Food
My Lords—
I am grateful to the noble Lord for bringing his expertise and commitment to this area. It is indeed the case that the majority of foods classified or considered as ultra-processed foods also tend to be high in calories, saturated fat, salt and sugar, for which there is more definitive evidence, as …