Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
Water Companies
My Lords, I thank the Minister for the work that she and the department are doing in clearing up the rivers, watercourses and seas, though privatisation and EU regulations have played their part. She will be aware that the Cunliffe review referred to pollution and flooding being addressed up stream …
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
South East Water: Disruption of Supply
My Lords, a lot of the regulation relating to water still comes from the European Union. Will the Government look at that in isolation or as part of the water Bill when it is before the House this autumn?
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Royal Mail
Does the noble Lord share my concern that perhaps the postal service and the Royal Mail are focusing too much on parcel delivery and not enough on a universal letters service that plays to elderly populations in rural areas? If we go fully digitalised and if we lose the postal service, it would be a…
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Access to Nature Green Paper
Is the Minister aware that farms are businesses and that there has been a worrying trend of sheep worrying, dog attacks on sheep and wildfires started by the public accessing the countryside? Who will be responsible for ensuring that the Countryside Code is applied, both in the letter and the spirit…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Youth Justice
My Lords, I welcome the plan. Will the Minister join me in recognising the role that young offender institutions play? Can she update the House on the recruitment and retention of those who serve in often very difficult circumstances in those institutions?
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Climate Change: Government Action
My Lords, does the Minister agree that there is a role for adaptation in tackling climate change? Would the Government see fit to reward farmers for retaining excess floodwater in times of flood to prevent downstream communities flooding?
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
EU-UK SPS Agreement: Food-related Standards
My Lords, I wish the noble Baroness and the Government well in these crucial SPS negotiations. The farmers have made a perfectly reasonable request that there should be a transitional period before the new arrangements come into place sometime in 2027. Will the Government look favourably on that req…
Lords
Debate
27 April 2026
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I support the more focused amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, on the agent of change that deal only with the noise issue, primarily as it might and does affect grass-roots music venues.
A number of amendments to Bills that have been going through ping-pong recent…
At end insert “, and do propose Amendments 94F and 94G in lieu—
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
27 April 2026
Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I rise to declare my interest as a member of a farming company and also involved in the fertiliser industry, which was mentioned a little earlier. Fertilisers and fuel are farmers’ most expensive costs, and we see unprecedented increases ahead of them, on top of three bad harvests in a row…
Lords
Debate
23 April 2026
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I will also speak to Motions F and F1. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, for their amendments in this group.
Lords Amendments 36, 90 and 155 would remove from the Bill the provisions relating to local authority governance and executive arrangements.…
At end insert “, and do propose Amendments 94B and 94C in lieu—
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
2 contributions
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Flood Prevention and Drought Resilience
The sustainable farming incentive will continue to support flood prevention and drought resilience. The streamlined SFI offer for 2026 includes actions that slow the movement of water during periods of heavy rainfall, keep soil covered and increase organic matter, which improves the soil’s ability t…
The noble Baroness is right: it is important that we recognise the role that farmers, land managers and landowners have in supporting the Government’s ambitions on flood and drought resilience, and that this should be delivered through any way that is practical and possible, while at the same time l…
Lords
Proceedings
22 April 2026
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
My Lords, I shall press the Minister on North Sea oil, as she rehearsed it this afternoon. We just had a debate on clean energy. My noble friend Lord Moynihan on the Front Bench said that 70% of gas imports to the UK are coming from Norway and that they are potentially under a challenge from the Nor…
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
3 contributions
Clean Power 2030 Action Plan: Rural Communities
My Lords, I am delighted to have secured this debate and I look forward to hearing all contributions, particularly the maiden speech. I declare my interest as honorary president of National Energy Action and the UK Warehousing Association. I also serve on the Environment and Climate Change Committee…
My Lords, it is a great honour to rise and address this House, and I am grateful for the opportunity. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering, for raising this important Question. I express my sincere thanks for the warm welcome from all sides of the House. I am appreciative of Black …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
21 April 2026
Electricity: Domestic Pricing
The reference that the noble Baroness makes to Denmark is an interesting one, inasmuch as the Danish system is wholly integrated between renewables, heat and power of different kinds—particularly district heating and various such things, which can be used in conjunction with other forms of energy to…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Trains: Punctuality
I think that the noble Baroness will find that the public purse is recompensing that delay replay now. It is a good scheme to compensate people properly for significant delays, but the object, which I have been talking about in this Question, is to reduce the delays by better management of the railw…
Lords
Debate
13 April 2026
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to speak briefly on this revised amendment, which I have brought back from Committee. At the outset, I would like to echo the words of the Minister on the loss of Lord Beecham, who was a very charming colleague and a very hard-working and assiduous Member of this House. He wi…
My Lords, I am grateful to those who have contributed to this short debate, and I am grateful to the Minister for her response. On behalf of councillors in North Yorkshire who have approached me on this, I have to say I am deeply disappointed, for all the reasons that we have given. For the moment, …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
Rail Freight
There is no use upgrading Haughley junction without upgrading Ely. Previous Governments have not found the money to do that and, regrettably, in the financial circumstances that this Government find themselves, we have not so far found it either. But I have had some useful discussions with local Mem…
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I will speak in particular to Amendment 100 in this group but congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, on opening this group of interesting amendments. I thank the Minister for meeting us prior to Report and bringing forward a first stab at a definition of micromobility vehicles. It …
I would like to clarify something on the Highway Code. The Minister was absolutely right that the Highway Code is available in hard copy. It is when it is updated more than once in quick succession that the changes are available only on the internet.
Lords
Debate
24 March 2026
3 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, for moving the first amendment in this group so eloquently. I will speak in particular to Amendments 52, 61 and 326 in my name, but all the amendments in this group look to put rural areas front and centre.
For f…
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to a number of amendments I have in this group. I will limit myself to those in my name and in the names of others who have been kind enough to support them.
The Minister will be quite familiar with Amendment 120 at this stage. I read very carefu…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 March 2026
Onshore Wind Farms
I had thought that I was talking this afternoon about the repowering of wind turbines—that is, turbines that have completed their life in terms of their original blades and mountings, and which are out of the renewable obligation certificate period. The question for those sites is whether they repow…
Lords
Committee Stage
23 March 2026
4 contributions
Warm Home Discount (England and Wales) Regulations 2026
My Lords, it is always instructive to follow the noble Baroness. I thank the Minister for his shrewd analytical introduction and his insight. Tangentially, for me, it conjured up memories of chilblains, hot-water bottles and ice on the inside of the windowpanes—the considerable discomforts of a post…
I am delighted to tell the noble Baroness that I cannot speak for the Cabinet Office’s website, but I take her point that these things need to be clarified as much as possible.
The noble Baroness also asked about standing charges, both generally and in relation to this particular measure. She will …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance
The noble Baroness is right to point to the potential for natural flood management to improve the environment in a holistic way while providing sustainable flood defences. That can be through a variety of approaches, including restoring riverbeds, changing the way in which land is managed, as the no…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
PFAS
The water White Paper and the Bill that will follow it are a central part of the Government’s programme and a priority for Defra. We are looking at the Cunliffe report extremely carefully; it is an important piece of work.
Lords
Debate
4 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I will speak in particular to Amendments 341 and 342 in my name but I support all the amendments in this group, which are on the same theme. Earlier today I met with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, which takes this issue very seriously indeed and has made the point that privately owned e-scoot…
I am very grateful to the Minister for his reply. I find it a little concerning that he does not agree to a review but the Government have now extended their own review for another four years. We had a very useful meeting with him and the noble Lord, Lord Hendy. We are approaching Report on the Engl…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
Forest-Risk Commodities
I am sure the noble Baroness is aware that the Government are working alongside farmers and environmental organisations on our farming road map, “Farming 2050, Growing England’s Future”, in order to set the course of farming over 25 years. We need a long-term vision for farming and food security, an…