Lords
Proceedings
10 September 2026
Jodrell Bank Observatory: Funding
My Lords, on these Benches we too welcome the statement made in the other place by the Prime Minister. However, the details of how that support will be provided are not clear at this time, and the industry is concerned. Physics-powered business generated over £303 billion in GVA in 2023 and supports…
Lords
Proceedings
7 September 2026
Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields
My Lords, I too congratulate the noble Baroness on her appointment, and I look forward to working opposite her. I also pay tribute to the outgoing noble Lord, Lord Whitehead.
I know the Minister is unable to comment before the decision, so instead I ask if she agrees with me that the Onward report,…
Lords
Committee Stage
2 September 2026
Digital Government (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2026
My Lords, more than 3 million customers are now in energy debt or arrears, owing a total of around £6 billion, with an average debt of approximately £1,800 per household. No household should be trapped indefinitely by energy debt accumulated during an exponential national crisis. Non-targeted suppor…
Lords
Debate
23 July 2026
Electricity Bills: VAT Removal
My Lords, may I take a moment to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Curran, and thank the outgoing noble Lord, Lord Whitehead? We look forward to his continuing contributions. We support this measure. As a day-one action, it is welcome—it will save about £40 off a typical fuel bill for about six month…
Lords
Proceedings
15 July 2026
Maximum Temperature for Indoor Workplaces
My Lords, we are on our third heatwave this year, so I very much welcome this Question. I thank the noble Baroness for her Answer and I recognise that numerous consultations are under way. What consideration have the Government given to the deployment of wearable tech, particularly to protect worker…
Lords
Proceedings
14 July 2026
State of Climate and Nature
My Lords, we welcome this Statement. The science is absolutely certain that human-induced climate change is beyond doubt. What has changed is how fast the impacts are arriving on our very own doorsteps. This summer’s heatwaves in May and June caused as many as 2,700 excess deaths; transport systems …
Lords
Debate
13 July 2026
Clean Water Bill: Chalk Streams
My Lords, I understand that the Government are on the verge of planning the NPPF. Does the Minister agree that it is more important that this is got right than got out quickly? She talked about making sure that we do something about the run-off from roads. Can she add any more detail to that?
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Climate Change: Housing Insurability, Mortgage Lending and Financial Resilience
My Lords, once we reach three degrees of warming, no one can take on the risks, so there will be no more insurance and:
“The financial sector as we know it ceases to function”.
Those are the conclusions of Günther Thallinger of Allianz, who warns that Governments will be unable to backstop the res…
Lords
Proceedings
13 July 2026
Farming Practices: Sustainable Farming Incentive
We certainly do not see larger farmers as the enemy, but we are aware that small farms have particular problems in accessing these grants. So I kindly ask the Minister: what further measures are the Government taking to make sure that smaller farmers have the skills and the ability to access these g…
Lords
Committee Stage
7 July 2026
Electricity Capacity (Amendment and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I thank the Minister for the clarity with which the instrument was introduced. The capacity market has served us well, and we welcome this examination and updating of its functionality so that it can continue to do so long into the future.
From these Benches, the Liberal Democrats have lo…
Lords
Proceedings
30 June 2026
Extreme Heat: Resilience of NHS Infrastructure
I welcome the Answer from the noble Baroness. Last Wednesday was the London Ambulance Service’s busiest ever day for life-threatening emergencies, and at least six NHS trusts declared critical incidents. Nine in ten of our NHS buildings are ill-equipped to handle heat. The Climate Change Committee’s…
Lords
Proceedings
25 June 2026
Waste Management Carriers: Regulation
My Lords, I thank the Minister for genuine progress that has been made; there is obviously more to do. My noble friend mentioned Bickershaw, a huge site mere metres from a school and from houses. The Government’s own record shows that there are at least 17 super-historic sites that blight their comm…
Lords
Proceedings
24 June 2026
Hares: Close Season
My Lords, on animal welfare issues, I declare an interest as a dog owner. Some 45% of dog owners report that their dogs feel fear from fireworks, and the majority of people who have horses similarly find that fireworks affect their animals. Can the Minister say whether the Government have any plans …
Lords
Committee Stage
23 June 2026
Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I thank the Minister for setting out the purpose of these regulations. Nuclear safeguards and the system for reporting, inspection and verification gives the International Atomic Energy Agency and the wider world the confidence that our civil nuclear material is being used for peaceful pur…
Lords
Committee Stage
18 June 2026
Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL]
My Lords, it is a pleasure to start the second day in Committee on this Bill. I open this group on airspace modernisation, consultation and charging and move Amendment 60 in the name of my noble friend Lady Grender, as she is unfortunately unable to be here today.
The amendment is straightforward a…
Lords
Committee Stage
15 June 2026
2 contributions
Contracts for Difference (Definition of Eligible Generator) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing this instrument. On the face of it, it is a modest instrument. It alters just 12 words in the 2014 regulations to allow contracts for difference to support the continued operation of existing nuclear power stations. However, those 12 words carry some si…
I welcome the Minister’s comments. There is just one thing that I would like to raise: the need for a bit of parliamentary oversight before the CfDs are signed. Can the Minister go away and think about whether there is some process through which Parliament could be informed? That would be a welcome …
Lords
Committee Stage
15 June 2026
Pollution Prevention and Control (Fees) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Wilson, for stepping in for the Minister and for introducing the SI. The instrument revises the hourly rate used to determine fees paid by the offshore oil and gas industry for environmental regulatory services provided by OPRED. Specifically, the instrument in…
Lords
Committee Stage
10 June 2026
Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026
My Lords, we welcome and support the Energy Prices Act 2022 (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026—and particularly the continued effort to ensure that consumers in Northern Ireland receive appropriate protection from the continued volatility of energy costs following the war in the Middle …
Lords
Committee Stage
10 June 2026
Contracts for Difference (Allocation) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction—clearly, this stuff is more complicated than eBay. I also thank my noble friend for raising important questions about geothermal that I hope the Minister will come to answer, but we support the inclusion and further development of that technology w…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Royal Mail
My Lords, I want to ask the Minister about future access to Post Office counter services now contained in TGJones stores. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that those counters are not closed, particularly in deprived urban areas and rural areas, and are the Government considering requir…
Lords
Debate
2 June 2026
Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill [HL]
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, for introducing the Bill and for the briefings that he and his team have kindly provided to Members of the House. We approach this Bill with an open mind and with a clear desire for greater clarity and certainty. Its relatively short len…
Lords
Proceedings
21 May 2026
Offshore Oil and Gas: Venting and Flaring
My Lords, the Green Alliance has found that North Sea operators are still wasting gas worth £300 million a year—enough to heat around 570,000 homes. That lost gas is nearly a third of Jackdaw’s projected peak output. Why are the Government tolerating such inefficiencies? Will the Minister commit to …
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
El Niño: Impact
My Lords, I very much welcome this Question. The coolest years are now warmer than the warmest years used to be, and all the signs are that we have a record weather event coming up over the next two summers. Can I also return to wildfires? I think they are really important. I know the Government are…
Lords
Proceedings
19 May 2026
Climate Change: Government Action
My Lords, our understanding of climate change is fundamentally reliant on international global science, which is under threat. I implore this Government to do more to support international climate science. What specific actions are the Government taking to monitor the cumulative impact of that reduc…