Lords
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
11 contributions
Farming Road Map
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her Answer. The land use framework sets out a strategic vision for how land can deliver for food, climate and nature. In that respect, will the farming road map set out a clear, multi-year funding trajectory and timetable for the implementation of E…
My Lords, will the Government ensure, as urged by the National Trust, that the Farming and Food Partnership Board includes at least one environmental landowner or NGO, so that the road map, when published, will have been shaped by a wide range of stakeholders in farming policy and will deliver for p…
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
15 April 2026
9 contributions
Marine Protected Areas: Bottom Trawling
I thank the Minister for that response. She will know that bottom trawling is a hugely destructive fishing practice that causes widespread, severe and often irreversible environmental damage to our marine ecosystems. I would like to push the Minister a bit more on the response to the consultation; i…
Is the Minister confident that the Government can justify calling these marine protected areas when bottom trawling is still permitted in 90% of them, resulting in 20,000 hours of suspected bottom trawl fishing last year? An outright ban would mean that there is no need to monitor that. We are still…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
13 April 2026
4 contributions
Conservation of Habitats and Species (Offshore Wind) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2026
My Lords, these regulations were laid before the House on 26 February.
This Government are committed to delivering the clean power mission, which is central to strengthening the UK’s energy security, lowering household energy bills and driving long term economic growth. Crucially, clean power is on…
My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out the statutory instrument. There is no doubt that climate change is an existential threat that demands urgent and transformative action. The soaring temperatures, floods and rising sea levels that we see are not distant warnings but present realities aff…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
18 March 2026
9 contributions
Trail-hunting
I thank the Minister for her response and I hope that the consultation will be a fair one. The Hunting Act was the result of 700 hours of debate, and it was what hunting opponents wanted. Hunts adapted and adopted trail-hunting, which is what supporters of the ban said that they should do. A recent …
My Lords, my family, on our farm, has not allowed fox-hunting across that land for well over 40 years. However, as a student, I occasionally used to run cross-country with a piece of rope and a scented rag, and was pursued by hounds. I can assure the House that no animals were harmed in that process…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
9 contributions
Sustainable Farming Incentive: Small Farms
I thank the Minister for her reply. Given that farm units of the size that she has mentioned are generally viewed as uneconomic and unviable in purely agricultural terms, I ask, if I may, two questions. First, given that the Government used 140 hectares as the size of the average family farm when ma…
My Lords, how will the Government ensure that the definition of a small farm within the SFI recognises the contribution of smaller, diversified family farms to nature recovery and local food production? How will the Government avoid favouring larger land holdings that may find it easier to access th…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
5 March 2026
10 contributions
PFAS
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her response. PFAS are considered to be harmful to the environment, and by the time we collect enough evidence that a substance is harmful, it is too late—it is prevalent in the environment and costly to clean up, if that is even possible. Consideri…
My Lords, will the Minister look carefully to the forthcoming water Bill and the conclusions and recommendations of the Cunliffe report as to how we can remove these very dangerous products from our water courses, our rivers and the sea?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
9 contributions
British Farming: Competitiveness
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for her reply. UK food self-sufficiency has fallen below 65%. Britain increasingly relies on volatile international markets while holding its own farmers to higher standards than most of our trading partners. The Batters review was unequivocal that food securi…
My Lords, the way to help with this significant issue would be the Government achieving their own manifesto promise of getting at least 50% of food supply to the public sector produced by British food producers. Can the Minister share with us what is preventing the Government achieving that with som…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
2 March 2026
9 contributions
Forest-Risk Commodities
My Lords, the national security assessment, which the Government still refuse to publish in full, has been leaked in full to ITV News. It states that nature loss, including deforestation, is already slowing UK growth and productivity and could leave annual GDP 12% lower by 2030 than it would otherwi…
My Lords, I imagine that the Minister is aware that the Government have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Indonesia, which is a substantial producer of palm oil and palm oil products. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that Indonesian palm oil products exported …
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
11 contributions
Global Biodiversity Loss and National Security
My Lords, a nature security assessment was initially withheld and then only partially released following an FoI request. Given the gravity of its findings for biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and our future national security, will the Government now publish the report in full? What policy respo…
Does the Minister agree that farmers are probably best placed to regard the future of nature and to safeguard our biosecurity and ecosystem? Will she carefully consider the damage that could be done, particularly to livestock farmers, from some of the proposals in the animal welfare strategy, which …
+9 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
9 contributions
Changing Weather Patterns and Floods
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her Answer, which clearly illustrates that the Government see the urgent nature of climate change mitigations. On changing weather patterns, which are characterised by persistent rain during the winter period and drought during the summer period, wh…
My Lords, it is not just the question of flooding. The increased rainfall will lead to increased run-offs and will put increased pressure on combined sewage systems, which will lead to excess pollution being poured into our seas and rivers, which is already at an unacceptably high level. This is a p…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
12 February 2026
10 contributions
Animal Welfare Strategy: Rural Communities
My Lords, Hunter by name, but not by nature. I am from the countryside and remain so. I startled my community by giving up meat decades ago, having read an early, in-depth investigation into food production. Standards have been greatly raised since then, and I applaud the Government in taking these …
My Lords, has the Minister considered the future of foxhounds if trail hunting is to be banned? This a very real concern of those who live in the countryside.
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
10 contributions
Construction Industry: Timber
My Lords, this country imports 73% of the timber we need for construction, despite having one of the best climates in the world for growing softwoods. Natural England and the Forestry Commission have jointly expressed dismay that only 10% of our tree-planting over the last 10 years has been a produc…
My Lords, can my noble friend confirm that there is distinct reticence among the very big housebuilders to use anything that is not bricks and cement? What are the Government doing to encourage more prefabricated buildings with timber, as the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra mentioned, so that the cost o…
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
12 contributions
Water Companies: Fines
My Lords, it is shameful that water companies, with nearly 1,200 criminal convictions, are permitted to negotiate the amount and timing of fines. Some will not pay the headline-grabbing fines announced in 2024 until 2030, while others will not pay any of the announced fines. No statement to that eff…
Can the Minister say whether the directors are paying these fines, as opposed to the consumers, and if not, why not?
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
9 contributions
Yorkshire: Sustainable Water Management Solutions
I thank the Minister for her response. Noble Lords will be aware of the increased frequency and severity of flood events across the UK in recent years. Communities I serve in South Yorkshire are up to one-third more likely to experience flooding than the national average. Public First estimated last…
My Lords, does the Minister agree—
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
26 January 2026
8 contributions
Water White Paper
My Lords, I thank noble Lords for their interest and their questions on the water White Paper, which we published and laid in Parliament on 20 January. The White Paper outlines how we will work together with water companies, investors, communities and the environment to transform our water system fo…
I thank the noble Duke for his broad support for the White Paper. He has been a champion of improving the situation with our water systems.
He asked about the new regulator. We intend to make formal appointments to the board of the new water regulator at the earliest opportunity. We want to get cra…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
14 January 2026
8 contributions
Large-scale Waste Crime
My Lords, organised waste crime is out of control, and there seems to be a reluctance to expose its true scale. In the five weeks since the Environment and Climate Change Committee’s report, more illegal waste sites were discovered than were previously known to the Environment Agency. Will the Minis…
My Lords, fly-tipping is a blight to farmers across the country, with over 80% reporting to the Environment Agency that they are impacted by small-scale tipping and over 20% by large-scale offences. Ultimate responsibility lies not only with criminals but with householders who do not pay adequately …
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
9 contributions
Meat Labelling
I thank the Minister. I know she is a genuine supporter of good animal welfare, which is why I was surprised that there was not a word in the strategy document that came out about the very cruel and barbaric way millions of animals are killed each year in a non-stun method. A lamb is shackled, pulle…
Does the Minister agree that, before any labelling scheme could be considered, there would have to be an assurance that it would be comprehensive and not discriminatory against religious slaughter of shechita and halal? While a recent study in the American Journal of Veterinary Research confirmed th…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
8 January 2026
3 contributions
Environmental Improvement Plan 2025
I am glad to have identified something that the Minister will have to find out about. The whole business of the contribution of agri-environment schemes and the farming road map to the EIP is huge. Nature-friendly farming is fundamental: it will be key, as the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, said, to delive…
Would it be possible for the Minister to tell us about peat?
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Committee Stage
6 January 2026
2 contributions
Nitrogen Reduction, Recycling and Reuse (Environment and Climate Change Committee Report)
I thank the Minister for her response, which has finished bang on the dot of 20 minutes. I take this opportunity to thank all colleagues who have participated in the debate. The contributions have been fantastic and reaffirm yet again the breadth and depth of knowledge that runs deep through Members…
I just confirm that I will look into the issue the noble Baroness raises in that email and will write to her.
Lords
Oral Questions
6 January 2026
10 contributions
Flooding Interventions
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her response. In October 2025, the Government committed a record £10.5 billion to flood defences to protect nearly 900,000 properties. Will the Minister tell your Lordships’ House what assessment they have made of this investment in flood defences, …
My Lords, one of the most efficient ways to reduce flood risk is sustainable drains. When do the Government expect to implement Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 to make sure that they will be mandatory for major new housing developments?
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
21 November 2025
Animal Welfare (Import of Dogs, Cats and Ferrets) Bill
My Lords, I am very pleased to be able to speak at the Third Reading of this Private Member’s Bill. Ending puppy smuggling was a government manifesto commitment, and we have been really delighted to support this animal welfare Bill through both Houses of Parliament. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tree…
Lords
Proceedings
13 November 2025
Biodiversity and the Countryside
My Lords, this has been a very good debate and I say again that I am grateful to noble Lords who have remained here late on a Thursday because we all view this as such an important issue. There are not many issues that can command near-unanimity across a Chamber of Parliament. This is clearly one of…
Lords
Committee Stage
10 November 2025
3 contributions
Environmental Protection (Wet Wipes Containing Plastic) (England) Regulations 2025
My Lords, these draft regulations were laid before the House on 16 September. I welcome the chance to set out the action that this Government and the devolved Governments are taking to ban the supply and sale of wet wipes containing plastic right across the UK.
The Government are committed to bring…
I thank the Minister for introducing this instrument proposing the ban on the supply and sale of wet wipes. There is no doubt that there is a significant and ongoing problem with wet wipes, and I agree that urgent action is needed to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic fibres. Th…
+1 more contribution in this session