Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville — Hansard

Lords Proceedings 18 June 2026

Livestock Grazing on Dartmoor National Park

My Lords, a brief search of the internet reveals considerable anger among graziers and farmers on Dartmoor at the proposed culling of ponies by Natural England. Farmers are at a loss to understand how Natural England could believe that farmers would choose to reduce cattle and sheep numbers, on whic…

Lords Proceedings 16 June 2026

Environment Act 2021 Targets

My Lords, given that only 14% of rivers in England are in a good ecological status, while agricultural pollution affects 40% of water bodies and wastewater pollution affects 36%, and given the importance of healthy freshwater ecosystems to species recovery, what assessment have the Government made o…

Lords Debate 23 April 2026 3 contributions

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, first, I give my thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, for bringing forward again her Motion A1 on the inclusion of rural affairs in the list of competences. I agree with every word she said, including about broadband and mobile reception in rural Norfolk, w…

My Lords, I shall add some comments on rural affairs, but first, I am grateful for the Government’s movement on the appointment processes for commissioners. At Second Reading, in Committee and on Report, I had a lot to say about commissioners, their appointment, and their terms and conditions. My wo…

+1 more contribution in this session

Lords Debate 24 March 2026 2 contributions

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, Amendment 5 is in my name and that of the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle. The Bill is extensive, covering many areas of local government, and aims for the improved delivery of services by local and strategic authorities. The areas of competence for strategic authorities cover…

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her considered comments and thank all those Peers who have taken part in this debate. Between us, we have managed to cover nearly every aspect of the disadvantage of living in rural communities. I was very disappointed to be reminded about rural-proofing, because …

Lords Debate 9 March 2026

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of the APPG for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, and speak in support of Amendments 375, 466 and 468. I thank the Minister, the noble Lord, Lord Hanson, for his introduction to this important group of amendments. As has been said, this is the start of a journ…

Lords Oral Questions 26 February 2026

New Housing: Flood Risk

I do not accept the premise of the noble Baroness’s question that we cannot protect the biodiversity arrangements at the same time as dealing with flood risk. Defra established the water delivery taskforce to make sure that water companies delivered on their planned investments to provide water and …

Lords Committee Stage 9 February 2026

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill

My Lords, I apologise for not having spoken in the previous debates on this Bill due to the pressure of work. The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, has spoken eloquently to his amendments, and I agree with nearly everything he has said. I will speak to Amendment 184 in my name, as I am extremely concerned a…

Lords Oral Questions 15 January 2026

In-game Purchases: Protections for Children

As the noble Baroness would expect, I regularly meet with the Gambling Commission and discuss its enforcement activity. I have also met with the Advertising Standards Authority, and, indeed, officials also meet with representatives of the ASA and the Gambling Commission on a range of matters. DCMS h…

Lords Oral Questions 20 November 2025 2 contributions

Plastic Recycling Targets

My Lords, since the resources and waste strategy of 2018 and the 25-year environment plan of January 2019, plastic recycling has moved up the political and public agenda—but not as quickly as it might, despite the sterling efforts of David Attenborough. I am grateful to the Green Alliance for its br…

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville. I thank her for securing this debate and setting out many important points. As the noble Baroness said, we are up to our necks in plastic. In 2020 the previous Government banned plastic straws, stirrers…

Lords Oral Questions 20 November 2025

Water and Sewerage Companies: Statutory Consultees

I have been greatly involved in the issues around internal drainage boards and the constant tensions in their financing over the years. Internal drainage boards are not statutory consultees, but they work proactively with local authorities, which are represented on their management boards and can co…

Lords Debate 17 November 2025 4 contributions

Crime and Policing Bill

My Lords, I have listened carefully to the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, and read the Member’s explanatory statement on these two amendments. I will be brief. I can remember, as a child, signs indicating the barriers and limits of public access to certain parcels of land. Across the field, there was…

I am grateful for the noble Lord’s interjection and for that clarification. However, as somebody who lived for 35 years with a footpath running through their garden, I have to say that I do not really agree with him. We should be very careful about implementing these two amendments. They smack to m…

+2 more contributions in this session

Lords Committee Stage 10 November 2025

Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025

My Lords, His Majesty’s loyal Opposition are supportive of these regulations, which seek to ban wet wipes containing plastic. We commend the Government on pressing ahead with this important measure, which was first initiated by the previous Conservative Government in 2024. It is both a long-overdue …

Lords Oral Questions 10 November 2025 2 contributions

River Pollution

My Lords, cleaning up our rivers is a top priority. To tackle agricultural pollution, we are increasing regulatory compliance, reforming environmental land management schemes to prioritise water and promoting innovation. To tackle pollution from abandoned metal mines, we are investing in a programme…

On agricultural run-off pollution specifically, which the noble Baroness asked about, we are doubling the funding to the Environment Agency farm inspections and regulatory enforcement team, which will enable it to conduct at least 6,000 inspections a year by 2029, in order to work with farmers to ra…

Lords Debate 27 October 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for this amendment. I apologise for not being able to take part in Committee, due to hip surgery. I welcome the inclusion of spatial development strategies as a particularly useful tool for ensuring that larger areas participate in planning for …

Lords Proceedings 23 July 2025

Independent Water Commission

My Lords, I thank the Government for making time for the repeat of this Statement. I also thank my noble friend Lady Grender for having another critical engagement at this time, thus allowing me to speak on the subject which had become routine for me over the preceding years. The noble Baroness the …

Lords Debate 25 June 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell. The Bill is trying to do what is needed to boost housebuilding. I do not think there is anyone who disputes the simple fact that the gap between demand and supply continues to widen. We know, as many noble Lords have said,…

Lords Committee Stage 19 May 2025

Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Bill

My Lords, I declare my interest as a member of the APPG for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, and I apologise for not being present at Second Reading. I did, however, watch this at home on the Parliament channel. I will speak to Amendment 11 but support the whole of this group of amendments. I am, howe…

Lords Debate 14 May 2025

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I apologise for not being present during Second Reading or the preceding Committee sittings due to a health issue. I declare my interest as a vice-president of the LGA. I fully support this group of amendments and wish to speak in particular to Amendment 275A, to which I would have added …