Contributions
1,483 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL]I think we are coming to that in a later group of amendments. It has been completed but not peer reviewed and I have not seen it, but it will be available to noble Lords before…06 Jul 2021HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL]My Lords, it is a privilege to open this debate. Today, in this House, we are opening a new chapter in this country’s proud story of protecting and promoting animal welfare. I am…16 Jun 2021HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL]I am very grateful to your Lordships for insightful and constructive contributions to today’s debate. I start by agreeing with the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, on a number of…16 Jun 2021HANSARDAnimal Welfare (Sentience) Bill [HL]That the Bill be now read a second time.16 Jun 2021HANSARDFood, Poverty, Health and the Environment Committee ReportMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, for initiating this important debate and I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. What was absolutely apparent from the…10 Jun 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessIn addition to the six schemes which I suspect are the ones the noble Baroness heard about from my predecessor, my noble friend Lord Gardiner, we are also looking at around 1,000…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessThe noble Baroness is absolutely right: there is an imperative, which has been particularly noticed during the Covid lockdown periods, when more people sought access to our…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessI will look into the latter point that my noble friend makes, but I can confirm that, at present, 2026 is the cut-off date for recording historical footpaths. There is provision…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessMy Lords, I declare my farming interests as set out in the register. Support for public access, including paying to create new permissive access or rights of way, could…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessLocal access fora are absolutely vital in this, and what is decided at governmental level is often unimportant when you get down to the ground. Local access fora have been…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessUnder what we hope will be an increasing network of permissive footpaths that can be used by not just walkers but cyclists and horse riders—with greater access, as I said, for…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessI echo the noble Baroness’s tribute to Lord Greaves. Alongside the crisis of species decline, a crisis of lack of engagement with nature by large proportions of the public is of…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessI can assure my noble friend that this is being addressed outside environmental land management. We are bringing forward legislation this year to streamline the process of…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessAccess for disabled people to the countryside will be funded under these schemes. Funding could be available for, for example, improving footpath surfaces, gates and access to…27 May 2021HANSARDAgri-environment Schemes: Permissive AccessMy Lords, we would encourage clear signage, and the Countryside Code , the revised version of which was published last month, gives advice to land managers, along with the Health…27 May 2021HANSARDPesticidesI share the noble and right reverend Lord’s concern for pollinators and particularly honeybees. I was pleased that the impact of the field scale studies on neonicotinoids resulted…25 May 2021HANSARDPesticidesWhen our national action plan is published later this summer, the noble Baroness will, I hope, be able to see that we are looking very carefully at making sure all these matters…25 May 2021HANSARDPesticidesI will start with that last point and promise to write to the noble Baroness on the uptake of new technologies. I certainly think that the advantage of the new ELM scheme is that…25 May 2021HANSARDPesticidesMy noble friend is right about DDT. I am afraid that tsetse fly is not covered in my brief, but I agree with him that there are occasions where the use of pesticides is vital and…25 May 2021HANSARDPesticidesMy Lords, I can confirm that that is our approach. The key focus of the Government’s national action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides is to minimise the risks and…25 May 2021