Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
Water Companies: Fines
The Government have very ambitious plans for tree-planting, including three national forests, one of which has already begun planting and two are progressing well, so we are very keen. We understand the impact that trees can have in mitigating both climate change and flooding. We absolutely want to …
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
Yorkshire: Sustainable Water Management Solutions
As I mentioned in response to the earlier question, we know that natural flood management attracts contributions from partners, including private partners, and that is something we must do. As the noble Baroness has just said, flooding has a big impact on climate change. We are not going to solve th…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 January 2026
Meat Labelling
The official veterinarians in the Food Standards Agency are present in all approved slaughterhouses during slaughter operations. It is their job to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements. I am sure that the noble Lord is aware that some slaughterhouses carry out both stun and non-stun slaug…
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
Independent Water Commission
Absolutely. One of the key parts of Sir Jon Cunliffe’s report is around the importance of setting a strategic direction for the industry, and one of the things that are set out there is the importance of that ministerial and strategic direction. I imagine that the development of that will of course …
Lords
Oral Questions
6 January 2026
Flooding Interventions
As I mentioned earlier, we have invested a record amount of money in addressing flooding. We have also reviewed the way funding is applied and how communities, businesses and so on can apply for it. The new programme we have set up has four metrics, and if I briefly go through those, it will help to…
Lords
Committee Stage
15 December 2025
2 contributions
Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
I thank all noble Lords for their valuable contributions. I am glad to have the opportunity to close this important debate and to have heard a range of views. It is clear that we are all passionate about this topic and I acknowledge that the principles behind PEPR, which began in 2024 before this Go…
I thank the noble Lord and apologise for missing out that question. Of course, as a principle, we are keen to use technology to make monitoring and compliance easier for everybody involved in the system. We are also keen to drive down the costs of compliance so that people can concentrate resources …
Lords
Debate
24 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, we on these Benches and many other noble Lords have challenged the necessity for Part 3 throughout the Bill’s passage through your Lordships’ House. The Government have made a number of amendments, which have improved the Bill, to reintroduce nature protections and give more comfort on the…
Lords
Proceedings
13 November 2025
Biodiversity and the Countryside
My Lords, I start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Grayling, for tabling today’s debate. It has been a very interesting debate, and I thank everyone for their contributions. I reassure noble Lords that the Government are committed to restoring and protecting nature, but we recognise the challenges t…
Lords
Debate
10 November 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I rise extremely briefly to thank the Minister for her engagement and her reassurance on the exercise of CPO powers and the engagement of the private sector.
Lords
Oral Questions
10 November 2025
River Pollution
As part of dealing with any major area that requires investment and funding, we will of course consider how private investment can support what the Government are trying to achieve. We believe that it is important for us all to pull together to make the right kind of progress.
Lords
Debate
3 November 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will also speak to my Amendment 231A. I address Amendment 208 individually, rather than as a group as in Committee, because the facts have changed following the CG Fry Supreme Court judgment. This creates an opportunity to accelerate home building, which the Bill currently threatens to e…
My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this short debate, to my noble friend on the Front Bench for her support and to the Minister for her well thought-through and considered reply.
I have to say that I am not convinced. The fundamental principle of the habitat regulations i…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Statutory Instrument
30 October 2025
Heather and Grass etc. Burning (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I thank the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, for introducing this Motion and all noble Lords who contributed to this debate. I am particularly grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, for telling us that we have had a haul of Earls from the Back Benches. I did not realise that there were col…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will speak in support of my noble friend Lord Lansley’s Amendments 158A and 164A, which seek to understand why the nature restoration levy may be mandatory. That would appear to go against the sense of the whole of Part 3, which is supposed to offer an alternative to the existing system …
My Lords, I speak in support of both amendments in the name of my noble friend Lord Caithness, to which I have added my name. The arguments were made powerfully and comprehensively in Committee and well summarised by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington. Farmers, in particular, should be given…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
12 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, for the introduction of her Amendment 130 and to those who spoke so convincingly in her support. I also thank the Minister for her response to these amendments, particularly the clarifications around the issues addressed by Amendment 122.
…
My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 131 and my other amendments in this group. Amendments 131, 137, 151 and 152 seek reassurance that Natural England will use the best available evidence when developing and approving EDPs, and that that will be confirmed by the Secretary of State. The reason for t…
+10 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Water Companies: Private Ownership
The noble Lord will be aware there is a high bar for the use of a special administration regime but we have made our preparations and are ready for all eventualities, including applying for such a regime, if necessary. While the company is stable, we have stepped up the preparations. It is clear tha…
Lords
Debate
29 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will also introduce Amendments 201 and 203. Most of the amendments in this group propose alternative solutions to environmental blockages to planning and development, either as replacements for Part 3 of this Bill or as substantial improvements to it. To my mind, the most important amend…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I shall speak to the amendments in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich. I am grateful for their excellent, informative introductions. We on these Benches tabled similar amendments in Committee. The amendments share a vital pur…
Lords
Debate
27 October 2025
4 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I will speak briefly to my Amendments 95 and 98. I am very grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, for her support for the protection of good agricultural land. Amendment 95 is a broader application of the principle that was debated and rejected by Government and Liberal…
My Lords, I will not make extensive comments on my noble friend Lady Coffey’s Amendment 87, as we will return to EDPs in future groups on Report. However, this amendment does have merit in that EDPs should be a relevant matter for making planning decisions.
My noble friend Lord Banner has expertly …
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Proceedings
27 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
My Lords, this Government’s deal with the EU allows Europe to retain around 40% of the fishing rights in our exclusive economic zone and territorial waters for a further 12 years. This undermines the substantial expansion of the private tax-paying fishing sector that should have been possible. The f…
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend Lady McIntosh of Pickering for her commitment to this flooding issue, which impacts far too many households in this country and which, as our climate changes, is likely to impact far more.
New housing built on flood plains since 2009 is not able to be…
Lords
Debate
22 October 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I draw the House’s attention to my register of interests as a landowner and a housing developer. Before addressing this group of amendments, I would like to ask the Minister whether her Government have considered the impact of the Supreme Court judgment in the CG Fry case that was released…
Lords
Debate
20 October 2025
2 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for bringing forward the amendments in this group. I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the register of interests as a renewable energy developer and as a forester and forest planter.
First, the removal of the application of Clause 28 to Wales is inter…
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Fuller for Amendment 43 and to my noble friend Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts for his loyal and able introduction of Amendment 45 in the name of my noble friend Lady Hodgson of Abinger. I declare my interest as a farmer, although not of as much best an…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 October 2025
Waste Crime
The noble Lord is absolutely right to raise the issue of fly-tipping. A lot of people think it is just a mattress dumped in a hedge, but it can be incredibly serious and expensive and challenging for landowners to clear up. In specific answer to his question, following Royal Assent the intention is …
Lords
Debate
17 September 2025
13 contributions
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords these amendments brought forward by the Minister draw attention to a crucial point: environmental delivery plans, if they are to carry weight and deliver real outcomes, must be more than static documents. Amendment 248A rightly calls for contingency measures, back-up conservation actions th…
My Lords, in moving my Amendment 253, I will also speak to my other amendments in this group. It is an embarrassment that in our small, wealthy island nation, there are, according to APHA, over 2,000 non-native species, of which 10% to 15% become invasive and pose a serious threat to our biodiversit…
+11 more contributions in this session