Contributions
1,962 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWater CompaniesThe noble Baroness raises an important point, not just on the water Bill that is coming forward but more broadly. I get very frustrated when we put in laws that should make a…09 Jun 2026HANSARDWater CompaniesThe Government are very keen to press forward with new reservoirs. It is unfortunate that no new reservoirs have been built in almost 40 years. There are a number of reasons for…09 Jun 2026HANSARDWater CompaniesWe are not telling farmers and landowners that they cannot do that. There are ways in which we can work with farmers and landowners to allow the building of small water-holding…09 Jun 2026HANSARDWater CompaniesI sincerely hope that I will see that first reservoir built and that I will not be a late Member, and I hope the same for the noble Lord. As I said, part of the reason for the…09 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyThe noble Lord makes good points. One problem that we clearly have is that there are parts of the country that have plenty of water and parts that have very little water.…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyI 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…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyIt is quite a challenge, is it not? How do we get that balance right? It is really challenging: we know in this country that we need more infrastructure, but how do we balance the…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyWe need to look at it in the round. As the noble Baroness is aware, we are having a lot of discussions with the European Union at the moment, and it is important to learn from…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyI am sure the noble Lord is aware that the chair and CEO of South East Water have resigned following calls from Defra Ministers. My colleague Minister Hardy met the company twice…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyI do not know the detail of the proposals in Cornwall but, as I said, we need to get the balance right. It is really important. As I said in answer to the question from the noble…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyThe 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…08 Jun 2026HANSARDSouth East Water: Disruption of SupplyThat is a very good question. Obviously, we have not built a new reservoir for more than 30 years. That is one reason why we have reduced domestic capacity, as the noble Lord…08 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperMy 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…03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperOne reason we are determining the new national river walks in the places we are looking at is to get more deprived communities out into nature. That is why the Mersey Valley Way,…03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperThe 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…03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperYes.03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperI meant she had never seen a red squirrel, which is very sad. I am also happy to pitch for a red squirrel on the cover of the Green Paper when it comes out.03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperI have only recently been made aware of this and I am currently looking at it. The noble Lord raises an important point. One of the things that we need to be more aware of as a…03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperThat kind of responsibility needs to be part of the Green Paper. If we encourage people to get out and about, they need to understand responsible behaviour. On the other issues…03 Jun 2026HANSARDAccess to Nature Green PaperI could not agree more with the noble Lord about responsibility. I live in Cumbria, as noble Lords know, where there is damage, litter, the leaving opening of gates and sheep…03 Jun 2026