Lords
Committee Stage
3 November 2025
2 contributions
Tobacco and Vapes Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to speak on the Bill for the first time—not because of a lack of interest, but because it clashed with other Bills going on at the same time. I declare my interest as chair of the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, known as PASS, which looks to provide age verification in the fo…
My Lords, I am very grateful for the opportunity to have had a debate on this small group of amendments. I am also grateful for the support from my noble friend Lord Bourne. I took great comfort from the fact that this has been achieved in other countries, so we can perhaps follow their good practic…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
3 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, this is my moment; I have waited all day and all night. It gives me great pleasure to move Amendment 197 and to speak to Amendment 198. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown, for lending her name to both amendments, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Young of Old Scone and Lady…
My Lords, I am grateful to all those who spoke in favour of the amendments—and to those who did not. I will take my colleague aside and teach him the error of his ways, perhaps acquainting him with Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
As a newly elected MP, I was surprised at two …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, one of the amendments—which I now cannot find the number of—substitutes all Ramsar sites with “certain Ramsar sites”. Can the Minister clarify why certain Ramsar sites are being excluded whereas before all Ramsar sites were within the scope of the Bill?
I am grateful. Just for clarification, I now have the amendment in front of me. It is actually Amendment 210, which says
“leave out ‘Ramsar sites in England’ and insert ‘certain Ramsar sites’”.
What is worrying is that it goes on to say that to better understand the amendment we should look at the…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Water Companies: Private Ownership
I thank the noble Baroness for her question and indeed her interest in this area and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. I do not think anybody in your Lordships’ House would really like us to go through the pain of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill again. That is not what we are going to do. I…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to Amendments 100 and 101. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown, for lending her support to Amendment 101.
Amendment 100 sets out a very simple request that the sequential and exception tests be recognised as planning tools that help t…
I am most grateful to all those who have spoken, especially the noble Baronesses, Lady Willis of Summertown and Lady Grender. I thank my noble friend Lady Scott for her support. I have some reassurance from what the Minister said, but I think she will accept my concern that a sequential test is not …
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to speak briefly to this short but perfectly formed amendment. I hope to extract a commitment from the Minister and the Government on the question of making water and sewerage undertakings statutory consultees on a development consent order, as the Environment Agency current…
My Lords, I am grateful to all those who have spoken and in particular for the support from the noble Baroness, Lady Grender. I omitted to declare my interests: I am co-chair of the Water APPG and an officer of the Flooding and Flooded Communities APPG.
I am a little disheartened by the Minister’s …
Lords
Proceedings
27 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
My Lords, before Britain left the European Union, the inshore fishermen, the under-10 fishermen, were promised an increased quota of cod and other fish—before the waters warmed up and they went elsewhere. Under the coastal fund, will there be anything for the inshore fishermen, who are now the large…
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to Amendments 70 and 81. I also say in passing how appealing I find the amendments in this group in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb. There was a much-ignored review by Anna Walker on water efficiency, and the amendmen…
My Lords, I am grateful to those who spoke in favour of my amendment, in particular the noble Baronesses, Lady Willis of Summertown and Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and my noble friend Lord Deben. I am deeply disappointed by the Minister’s response because, actually, she made the case for precisely…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for setting out the premise on which the amendment she moved is based. My Amendment 194 seems to be a little out of place. I should have asked for it to be taken with the rest of Part 3, because it seeks to amend Clause 86 in Part 3 to insist that the power to…
The reason for bringing the amendment back is that we do not seem to have moved on from Committee stage. If the expectation is that it will be a public body, then I go along with what the noble Baroness, Lady Young, said, that it should be in the Bill. I also support what the noble Baroness, Lady Be…
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, given that the debate was two days ago, I will briefly remind the House why I am pressing this to a vote. The Minister explained clearly that there will be a review of the Reservoirs Act 1975, which currently prohibits or sets very strict criteria on the construction of small reservoirs. G…
My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness. I find that there is much to commend in her amendment, which I hope gains the favour of the House and, indeed, the Government. I am also very taken by the amendment in the name of my noble friend Lord Lansley, who will explain it momentarily. I …
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to my Amendment 2 and, I hope, to extract a reassurance from the Minister in this short debate. The amendment looks at how it is expected that nationally significant infrastructure projects will operate in the planning process as set out in the B…
I am most grateful for that response. I most humbly apologise to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for not thanking her for cosigning the amendment in the first place, for which I am very grateful. I am grateful for her supportive comments, and for those from the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock; they c…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
20 October 2025
Healthcare Provision: Inequalities
We have discussed national insurance contributions a number of times in your Lordships’ House, and I can only repeat the previous assurance, given not just by me but by other Ministers: that in making the decision, the Chancellor took into account not just the funding available—for example, in the D…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 October 2025
Waste Crime
The noble Baroness makes a really good point. One of the issues around non-reporting is that people think it is pointless. That has been the case in the past. There has just not been enough action taken, not just in tackling waste crime but in supporting people who are victims of it. That is why we …
Lords
Proceedings
14 October 2025
Digital ID
My Lords, I declare my interest as I currently chair the Proof of Age Standards Scheme, which is, as it says on the tin, to prove the ages of young people who want to go out for a drink at night, engage in nighttime activity or go to the cinema. We are seeking to move from a purely physical card to …
Lords
Proceedings
14 October 2025
Business of the House
My Lords, I am grateful to those who spoke and to the Leader. I will come to her remarks at the end. I do not want to abuse the Companion , so I will not make a long wind-up speech. I was not sure whether the noble Lord, Lord Stoneham, was saying that the Liberal Democrats’ view was that morning sit…
Lords
Debate
17 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am delighted to have reached this small but perfectly formed group of amendments in my name. I take the opportunity to thank for their support the noble Baronesses, Lady Young of Old Scone, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb—I wish her a speedy recovery for her toe—and Lady Willis of Summertown. …
I am grateful to all who have spoken and those who have supported the amendment: the noble Baroness, Lady Young, who echoed my concerns about why the original legislation was not implemented; the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for reminding the House about the “slow the flow” scheme, particularly the…
Lords
Debate
16 September 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, this is only the second intervention I have made in this very important Bill. I draw the attention of the Minister, the department and, indeed, the House to the plight and funding of rural schools.
One of the first actions that the incoming Government undertook was to end the rural servic…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 September 2025
National Health Service Regulations
The expectation is that all GPs, including those in rural areas, will benefit greatly. The premise of the 10-year plan, which was announced recently, is to improve patient access. That is a particular issue in rural areas and is absolutely key, no matter where you are—whether you are appearing in pe…
Lords
Debate
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness. I support a number of amendments in this group, but I will limit my remarks to the debate on whether Clause 83 should stand part of the Bill. I was beaten at the post by my noble friend Lord Roborough in signing the clause stand part notice, s…
My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend Lady Coffey for moving her amendment and for giving the preface to my Amendment 333, to which I would like to speak. I will leave it to my noble friend Lord Lucas to explain why he has amended my Amendment 333. This is a probing amendment. I hope that …
Lords
Oral Questions
15 September 2025
2 contributions
Plastic Pollution
My Lords, the UK supports an ambitious treaty to end plastic pollution, and I am very disappointed that no agreement has been reached. Plastic pollution is an urgent issue, with amounts of plastic entering the ocean set to triple by 2040 compared with 2016. The Government therefore remain committed …
We are taking a number of steps domestically to tackle plastic pollution. First, we have banned the supply of single-use vapes which, when littered, can introduce plastic, among other substances, into the environment. We are also working with the devolved Governments to bring forward a ban across th…
Lords
Debate
9 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
Briefly, I support the amendments in this group and congratulate my noble friend on tabling them. I am particularly pleased by the reference to Slow the Flow projects, which were successful in places such as Pickering. Is it possible to achieve this through building regulations? Is it something that…
Lords
Debate
5 September 2025
2 contributions
Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill
My Lords, this Bill, introduced by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, offers us an excellent opportunity to modernise legislation which has been left standing for far too long, namely the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. This Act belongs to a bygone age of farming and dog ownership. Similar la…
I am happy to take these issues away. At the moment, it covers grazing land. The definition of grazing land is something, again, that the courts can look at. Perhaps we can consider those definitions further. On the noble Baroness’s final point, that the legislation will lapse in 2034, I would just …
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
7 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lady Scott for opening this small group of amendments and for lending her support to my Amendment 95, to which I will briefly speak.
As drafted, the Bill leaves out the question of enforcement measures being recovered from the fee. I put a very simple ques…
I am most grateful for the Minister’s response to the amendment. My concern is that it looks as though the Government are going to build on functional flood plains. That is why the role of property resilience measures is so important, and why the enforcement should be included in the fees. So, I hop…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
3 September 2025
Warm Home Discount (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, this instrument brings forward much needed and real expansion of a vital scheme that we believe will have significant positive impacts. We welcome the proposed expansion of the warm home discount, which aims to bring financial relief to millions more households across Great Britain that ar…
Lords
Debate
1 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I declare my interest as a vice-president of the Association of Drainage Authorities. I commend the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for his amendment and for introducing this group. I will speak to Amendments 79A and 94FA—if your Lordships will pardon the expression—tabled by my noble friends Lo…