Baroness Grender — Hansard — Westminster Brief

Lords Debate 27 October 2025

My Lords, we on these Benches support this amendment, which seeks to ensure that water and sewerage undertakers are formally consulted by applicants for a development consent order. The amendment is similar to the Environment Agency system and would help to avoid significant problems downstream. Fa…

Lords Proceedings 27 October 2025

Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund

Does the Minister agree that the botched Brexit deal that the Conservatives negotiated has done great damage to our coastal and fishing communities? Fish exporters have been wrapped up in red tape and penalised with extra costs for trading with our closest neighbours. To better support our communiti…

Lords Debate 22 October 2025 2 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady McIntosh, Lady Willis, Lady Bennett and Lady Jones, for resuming this all-important discussion we held in Committee. Indeed, many of the amendments aim to define whether the Bill meets the climate reality of what is happening today or continues to repeat …

My Lords, I support the noble Lords, Lord Best and Lord Carlile, on behalf of my noble friend Lady Thornhill, who is unable to be here this evening—she has been got by the lurgy that everyone is coming down with. I will make some of the arguments that my noble friend would have made. At its core, t…

Lords Oral Questions 20 October 2025

Musical Instrument Certificates

We are continuing to talk with DCMS; it is an ongoing conversation. We are also continuing to constructively engage with the European Commission to tackle the challenges that face both creative and cultural professionals. To support touring artists, the Government are actively engaging with the EU o…

Lords Oral Questions 15 October 2025

Waste Crime

Clearly, the lack of convictions has been a problem, which returns me to my answer to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh. This is the fundamental reason why we have increased the Environment Agency’s budget for front-line criminal enforcement: so that we can actually start to do this. The purpose for…

Lords Debate 14 October 2025

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I will speak briefly on two matters: first, the Ministry of Defence accommodation, and then the pet deposit. On the Ministry of Defence housing, we thank the Government for listening and engaging so constructively on this issue. The concerns raised have been recognised, and the Government’…

Lords Debate 17 September 2025 3 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, Amendment 294 would prohibit any changes to an environmental delivery plan that would reduce the amount, extent or impact of conservation measures designed to protect identified environmental features. In effect, the Secretary of State would be unable to alter an EDP if such an amendment w…

I thank the Minister for her response. She will understand that we are attempting to prevent what happens over custom and time, which is always the weakening of something such as an EDP. We will examine her words carefully and meet with her between now and Report to make a bit of progress on this. M…

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Lords Oral Questions 17 September 2025

Deforestation

Clearly, as part of our approach to deforestation and trying to reduce our impact on a global level, supply chains are critical—working with supply chains to look at how we can manage that, and how deforestation is promoted by the way purchasing and procurement happens in this country. Supply chains…

Lords Debate 17 September 2025 3 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I will speak to Amendments 244 and 287. These proposals have a clear and focused aim: to secure stronger and more reliable protections for our natural environment through the planning system. I wish to lay out why these changes are not just desirable, but necessary, in light of both recent…

My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses for their responses on this. I thank them also for continuing to have an open door. I think that the whole Committee is conveying a huge ambition to work with the Government to get this over the line. I still have concerns that “material improvement” will be in…

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Lords Debate 11 September 2025 2 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, for putting her name to my Amendment 157. This amendment seeks to provide local planning authorities with a clear duty and power to protect land that plays a vital role in both shaping our environment and defining our communities. I…

My Lords, I thank Ministers for spending a great deal of time with us, especially the lengthy meeting this morning after the week we have all had. It is very much appreciated. The characterisation of this as a straitjacket on local authorities is a misreading of the wording of the amendment. It is e…

Lords Oral Questions 11 September 2025

Global Plastic Pollution Treaty

The noble Baroness’s last point was the main point—getting everybody back to the table. If we are to make a real difference globally, we need those countries with us to appreciate that the production method of plastic has to be part of where we move forward regarding plastic in the future. You canno…

Lords Committee Stage 10 September 2025

Free-Range Poultrymeat Marketing Standards (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2025

My Lords, I begin by saying how delighted I am—indeed, the whole Committee will be delighted—that the noble Baroness is still in her place as a Defra Minister. We have continuity Defra, and that needs to be said. But may I also say how sad I was to see that Daniel Zeichner has been brutally chopped…

Lords Debate 9 September 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, for ensuring that one person is watching tonight—it is much appreciated—and the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for raising interesting debates regarding Amendments 135A, 135F and 253A in the context of biodiversity protections through environmental deliver…

Lords Debate 9 September 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, I speak to my own Amendment 194 in this group, at the end—or heading towards the end—of what has been an incredibly impassioned debate with very little disagreement about the broad principles in every one of these amendments. It is an extremely good group of amendments. I thank particularl…

Lords Debate 5 September 2025

Dogs (Protection of Livestock) (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, as a former Chief Whip, I am pleased to follow the convention of congratulating my noble friend Lord Hart on his maiden speech. He has demonstrated his long experience of the countryside and rural affairs, and the House will look forward to his future contributions. The House may be relie…

Lords Debate 5 September 2025

Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill

My Lords, in view of the importance placed on controlling rabies in the Bill, I need to tell the House about a campaign run by me and my noble friend Lord Deben when we were Ministers in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1990. I was tempted to wear our campaign T-shirt for the whole…

Lords Debate 4 September 2025

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, the three amendments in my name in this group are particularly focused on the pressing issue of flood risk. I thank other noble Lords who have tabled amendments in this group raising this all-important issue. This is not an abstract problem but one that devastates families, undermines comm…

Lords Oral Questions 1 September 2025

Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023

One reason I talked about non-legislative options is that we want to stop people buying such holidays in the first place. One problem is that, when people book a holiday with an elephant ride, they simply do not understand what has happened to that elephant and how it has been treated so that it can…

Lords Debate 24 July 2025 2 contributions

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

My Lords, these Benches support the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and thank him for raising this. We also thank him for tabling this amendment in good time so that this Committee could consider it. This amendment seeks to designate livestock markets and abattoirs as critical nation…

My Lords, as we consider the challenge of water security, we all feel the urgency. Demand is rising, our climate is changing and not a single new major reservoir has been completed in over three decades, as we have already heard. Yet pursuing a one-size-fits-all solution rarely serves us well, espec…

Lords Debate 15 July 2025 2 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

There are three amendments in my name in this group, and I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, and the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, for putting their names to Amendment 106. I also thank the noble Lord, Lord Best, for his wisdom and support, as ever, and the Minister for the many meeting…

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have participated. There is no doubt on these Benches about the sincerity of the intentions of Minister John Healey. However, we believe that enshrined in law is the right way to proceed. We heard some eloquent arguments from the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Sti…

Lords Oral Questions 8 July 2025

Forest Risk Commodities

There are different things we can look at. Forests are a priority for the UK’s international climate finance spend—the ICF—and we are delivering ODA programmes to deliver improved forest governance, support sustainable trade and investment and mobilise finance for forest protections and restoration …

Lords Debate 7 July 2025 6 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I rise to move Amendment 56 on behalf of my noble friend Lord Tope, who, regrettably, is unable to be with us today. This amendment would require landlords to grant permission for home adaptations that qualify as reasonable adjustments, provided that a local authority assessment has been c…

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords for participating in this short but sweet debate on a very important issue. I particularly welcome the reiteration of the application of the Equality Act, particularly for people with disabilities who simply wish to have reasonable adjustments to live their lives w…

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Lords Debate 1 July 2025

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, we support the amendments in this group concerning rent affordability, a matter that strikes at the heart of the lived reality of millions of tenants. We welcome the long-overdue commitment to abolishing Section 21 no-fault evictions but, as Shelter rightly said in a release only this week…

Lords Debate 1 July 2025 2 contributions

Renters’ Rights Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, for bringing what is a quite small technical issue, even if there are many amendments related to it, particularly regarding farmers and their tenants. We understand that, technically, Amendments 8, 9, 11 and 13 to 17 relate to one very small, specif…

I thank the noble Lord. On Amendments 10 and 12, we on these Benches are concerned that they technically widen the scope beyond where we are comfortable. However, regarding Amendments 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 16, we hope that the Minister has heard the technical detail that is required for a very s…

Lords Oral Questions 26 June 2025

Food Allergens

Of course, the law states that you have to state allergens. In the guidance, the preference is that that should be written first, verbal secondary. We will assess how that is working, as I just said. Regarding smaller businesses, the guidance has been designed with business to ensure that it is fit …