Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
12 contributions
Clean Water Bill: Chalk Streams
My Lords, the clean water Bill was announced in the King’s Speech in May, to be introduced during this Session. We have set out our ambitious programme of reforms in the water White Paper, which was published on 20 January, and we are protecting chalk streams, including by reducing the risk of harmf…
We are very aware that chalk streams are an important ecological resource and we are doing a number of things that will make a difference, which is what we have to do. We are holding water companies to account. We are working within the environmental land management scheme to provide incentives for …
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
11 contributions
Farming Practices: Sustainable Farming Incentive
My Lords, the sustainable farming incentive is largely aligned with regenerative agriculture. There are actions for cover crops, no-till farming and providing insect-rich habitats. Furthermore, SFI includes actions for precision application of crop nutrients and pesticides.
When we brought in the new offer, we wanted to take away the uncertainty as to what was happening with SFIs in the longer term. We have made it clear that we will keep the main SFI offer largely stable from now until the end of this Parliament to provide certainty to farmers that we are going to con…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
7 July 2026
REACH (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations were laid before this House on 24 March. They will amend UK REACH, which is a central part of the framework governing the safe use of chemicals in Great Britain. EU REACH continues to apply in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. UK REACH retains the core approac…
Lords
Committee Stage
7 July 2026
2 contributions
Justification Decision (Generation of Power by the RR SMR) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations were laid before the House on 3 June. They will give effect to the Secretary of State’s decision that power generation using the Rolls-Royce small modular reactor is justified in the UK under the UK’s regulatory framework for practices involving ionising radiation. This d…
My Lords, I thank noble Lords who took part in the debate. As was said earlier, it is important to point out that the matter before the Committee is this particular instrument, which is narrow in what it does. It gives legal effect to the Secretary of State’s decision that this class or type of prac…
Lords
Proceedings
1 July 2026
7 contributions
Farming Road Map and Profitability Review
My Lords, there was an enormous number of questions—and, obviously, I do not have an awful lot of time. We are talking about the Statement on the road map; many of the questions are not about the road map and are much broader. As I have only a certain amount of time, I shall concentrate initially on…
The road map is designed to be a long-term look forward. Clearly, the important thing is that we make sure, because of that gap, that farmers can access the schemes that they need to support the farming that they are doing. Access to grant schemes has not always been straightforward. We want to make…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
9 contributions
Waste Management Carriers: Regulation
My Lords, in the last two months alone, Environment Agency investigations have led to 16 waste crime-related arrests. However, we know we must strengthen the EA’s powers, which is why this Government are committed to do so in our waste crime action plan. We are also prioritising reforms to the carri…
I am very happy to meet the noble Baroness to discuss her Private Member’s Bill. It is really important that we look at every aspect we can to tackle the increasing problem of waste crime. It is why we have given an extra £45 million to the Environment Agency; it is why we are carrying out some of t…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
11 contributions
Hares: Close Season
My Lords, the hare is a much-loved species in this country, and England is among the few European countries that do not have a close season on shooting hares during their breeding season. This is a terrible oversight, and this Government’s animal welfare strategy has made a commitment to
“consider …
I thank the noble Lord and others in this Chamber for their huge support to further this legislation. As I said, it needs primary legislation. Legislative slots are always tight, but we are actively looking at how we can find a space during this Parliament. I think the best way that people can help …
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
23 June 2026
10 contributions
Legal Protections for Ancient Trees
My Lords, felling trees without a licence where one is required carries unlimited fines and a potential prison sentence, and those protections are underpinned by a robust enforcement regime. In addition, ancient and veteran trees benefit from the highest levels of protection within the planning syst…
I recognise the situation that the noble Baroness describes, and the Government recognise that we need to look at whether there is more we can do to protect trees. Defra has funded a report, led by the Tree Council and Forest Research, to provide a range of recommendations for improving the protecti…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
17 June 2026
20 contributions
Thames Water
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their questions on this Statement. There are quite a lot of questions, so I will do my best to cover them but, as always, if I have missed anything out, we will get back to noble Lords.
First, it is important to point out that this letter is the Secretary of State …
Clearly, we need to see the water Bill to see the detail on that and many other issues that people have a particular interest in. The Government are clear that we do not want to have overburdensome regulation. That is important. The regulator is there to help support the industry and make sure that …
+18 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
8 contributions
Environment Act 2021 Targets
My Lords, Defra published the revised environmental improvement plan in December 2025. This sets out the Government’s long-term plan for improving the natural environment and our enjoyment of it. It includes prioritised actions to deliver our goals and ambitious Environment Act targets, and clearly …
The OEP’s assessment that the right reverend Prelate refers to was made before our revised environmental improvement plan. Following the assessment, we have reset the interim targets so that they are live and under active review. Regarding farm wildlife, to achieve the legally binding biodiversity t…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
15 June 2026
2 contributions
Digital Waste Tracking (England) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these draft regulations were laid before the House on 23 April 2026.
The introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking is a cornerstone of this Government’s Waste Crime Action Plan, which is the toughest ever crackdown on illegal waste activity and aims both to transform the waste mana…
I thank noble Lords for their contributions and comments. I shall go through and try to pick up the questions asked. As usual, we will go through Hansard and write if there is anything I miss or on which I cannot provide information.
The noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh, asked about EPR and how the re…
Lords
Proceedings
15 June 2026
9 contributions
World Ocean Day
My Lords, the UK plays a leading international role in marine conservation, working with partners to tackle pollution, protect vulnerable ecosystems and promote sustainable ocean governance. To mark World Ocean Day, we highlighted action at home and abroad, which included legislation to implement th…
I reassure the noble Baroness that the Government are completely committed to ratifying the BBNJ agreement. As she knows, I am sure, we introduced the legislation on 10 September to enable the UK to implement its obligations under the agreement and move towards ratification, and that received Royal …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
8 contributions
Farming and Food Production
My Lords, supporting British farmers and boosting the nation’s food security are key priorities. Our reformed SFI offer will open later this month, and our ELM capital grants offer opens next month. We will continue to work with stakeholders through the new Farming and Food Partnership Board, and we…
Clearly, profitability is really important, which is why the Batters review was so important. As part of increasing profitability, we are already implementing some of the recommendations from that review. As I said, our full response will be arriving later this year, and we will look at what else we…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
10 June 2026
2 contributions
Food Supplements Purity Criteria (Magnesium L-threonate monohydrate) (England) Regulations 2026
My Lords, magnesium L-threonate monohydrate has recently been authorised as a novel food following a public consultation and a safety assessment by the Food Standards Agency, which concluded that it is safe under the proposed conditions of use. This instrument sets the purity criteria—that is, the r…
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their participation and questions in another short and sweet debate.
The noble Baroness, Lady Grender, asked about the EU and divergence, and the noble Lord just touched on that as well. To clarify, this form of magnesium has been approved as a novel food in the EU…
Lords
Committee Stage
10 June 2026
2 contributions
Marine Licensing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment etc.) Order 2026
My Lords, this instrument was laid before the House on 15 April 2026.
This statutory instrument is one of the legislative measures being taken to implement the UK’s obligations under the BBNJ agreement—that is, the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservat…
I thank noble Lords who have taken part in this short but sweet debate. I am pleased that noble Lords fundamentally have supported this statutory instrument, as it is important. We do need to ratify the agreement, so I thank noble Lords for their broad support.
The noble Baroness, Lady Grender, tal…
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
9 contributions
Water Companies
One thing we have been doing is working with landowners on small storage areas. We know it can be very effective in things such as flooding, as well as providing water for livestock, for example. It is a very good point because, as well as building new large reservoirs to provide drinking water, we …
I am not aware of any such rumours. I do not know where they have come from, but I am not aware of them. On Thames Water, the Government are actively working very closely with Ofwat, which is evaluating the latest proposals from the consortium. Clearly, in doing that it has to take the best interest…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
8 contributions
South East Water: Disruption of Supply
The Government established the Water Delivery Taskforce last spring to ensure that we have sufficient water supplies and wastewater capacity to support the Government’s ambitions and the country as a whole. Having sufficient water supply is absolutely critical for the country, and is something that …
I do not think there is anybody in this House who would disagree that the water industry needs a serious shake-up. That is one reason why we brought in, as a priority, the Water (Special Measures) Bill when we came into power in the previous Session, and it is why a priority for this Session is the …
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
11 contributions
Access to Nature Green Paper
My Lords, the Government recognise the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and well-being. We are committed to improving responsible access to nature, and this year we launched the first of our nine new national river walks, the Mersey Valley Way in the north-west of E…
The noble Baroness is absolutely right: one of the things that it is really important for us to do as a Government is get children out into nature. We know that, if you get out in nature at a young age, you are more likely to continue to do so during your life, and we know how good it is for people’…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
13 contributions
EU-UK SPS Agreement: Food-related Standards
My Lords, as part of the SPS agreement, the EU has accepted that there will need to be a number of areas where we need to retain our own rules. The details of those are subject to negotiation, but we have been clear about the importance of being able to support the use of new and innovative technolo…
Of course, while the negotiations are ongoing—there are regular meetings, and it is reaching an intensive phase—I am afraid I cannot give any detail at all. However, as I said before, as a sovereign country we need to choose to align where it is in our national interest, but at the same time we need…
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
27 April 2026
3 contributions
Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I declare an interest as I am in receipt of delinked payments. This instrument sets the reductions that will apply to delinked payments in England for the years 2026 and 2027. In doing so, it delivers our commitment to phase out these subsidies by the end of the seven-year agricultural tra…
My Lords, I first draw the House’s attention to my registered interests as a farmer and landowner who is also in receipt of delinked and other government payments. I am very grateful to the Government Chief Whip for moving this debate to a civilised time this evening; I think that is much appreciate…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
27 April 2026
3 contributions
Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations were laid in draft before the House on 19 March 2026. They reflect the Government’s commitment to securing strong outcomes for nature recovery while supporting sustainable economic growth, as outlined in the Corry review. The regulations are a practical example of that ap…
I thank the Minister for presenting this statutory instrument with her usual clarity and purpose as we race towards the end of this Session. Everyone should be able to enjoy our natural environment. We have a duty to ensure that future generations inherit a world defined by biodiversity, not decline…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
11 contributions
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Flood Prevention and Drought Resilience
My Lords, I welcome that Answer and the information. I also welcome the department’s recently published independent report on flourishing uplands, which highlights graphically the tensions between farmers and environmentalists. It makes no economic sense at all for productive farmland to be flooded …
My Lords, will the Government consider adopting the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management’s recommendation requiring large corporates to disclose climate-related and nature-related risks in their supply chains, and to align that with the UK’s sustainability disclosure requireme…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
22 April 2026
11 contributions
Plastic Pollution Reduction
I thank the Minister very much—a lot of that is very encouraging, but at the moment only 9% of plastic waste is ever recycled. The majority is incinerated, landfilled or exported to other countries with weak regulation. The industry treats the plastic packaging tax as a routine cost. So can the Mini…
My Lords, is the Minister aware that eight out of 10 of the top councils for recycling in England are led by the Liberal Democrats? Would it surprise her to learn that Green-led councils are not even in the top 20? Mid Suffolk, the Greens’ only majority council, comes in at 162, and when they contro…
+9 more contributions in this session