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1,483 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessMy Lords, I refer the House to my entry in the register. The Government are committed to leaving the environment in a better state than we found it. Following the Environmental…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessI think we can. We have put more resources into our agencies, particularly Natural England. We have a sense of complete determination to hit this, which comes from Ministers and…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessI do not understand the noble Lord’s position. Working off a baseline, we have to make sure that we are sharing data. We are publishing 800 pages of data so that the noble Lord,…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessThe Environment Act requires the Government to respond within 12 months, and we will respond considerably more quickly than that. I know that the noble Earl is asking me a…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessOn hedgerows, I refer the noble Baroness to the fact that an enormous quantity of new hedgerows has been planted, and we have 11,000 kilometres of hedgerows under new management…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessI have written to my noble friend to give her a detailed answer to that question, which is the same one she asked quite recently. I assure her that I asked whether we really had…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessThat is a very good question from the noble Lord. I should always come armed with a list of marine shipping questions. I have not, but I will make sure that he gets an answer to…22 Jan 2024HANSARDEnvironmental Policies: Timeliness and EffectivenessI do not agree with that. The report said that 25 areas were improving, 10 were static and eight were deteriorating, and we take these extremely seriously. The OEP said that the…22 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceIf the noble Baroness looks at our rural proofing annual report, she will see a firm commitment in it to issues relating to mental health in rural areas. She is absolutely right…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceMy noble friend is right that these problems are going to get worse: what we are suffering at the moment is almost certainly the impact of an El Niño effect, which has meant a…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceI really want to know what the noble Baroness means by that. Does she mean that there should be no more houses built in York, Leeds, London or Exeter? It is not what you build; it…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResiliencePeople are very often free with advice. I went down to Somerset when there were floods there and somebody said to me, “All you have to do is dredge this river, cut this dyke…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceMy noble friend is right: these floods will undoubtedly affect our food security. Lincolnshire and the Fens is a very important area. Internal drainage boards and managing water…11 Jan 2024HANSARDClimate Change: Impact on Developing NationsMy Lords, the nature and environment activist Tony Juniper, now chairman of Natural England, wrote a very good book called What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? He showed the…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceMy Lords, the Government are giving money for property-level flood resilience, and that would entirely fall within this. Software is also now available. For example, I looked some…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceI entirely join my noble friend in saying what fantastic work the Environment Agency has done in reaction to these floods, along with the ongoing work it does in between to make…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceMy Lords, I refer to my interests as set out in the register. I know the whole House will extend our sympathies to those impacted by Storm Henk. To date, 2,185 properties have…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorms: Weather ResilienceThat is a very good question. The first thing we have done is to introduce partnership funding. At the time, the Opposition referred to it as a flood tax, but it has meant that a…11 Jan 2024HANSARDStorm HenkOn my noble friend’s last point, 99% of planning permissions given in the last financial year were done in accordance with the Environment Agency’s advice on whether those…10 Jan 2024HANSARDStorm HenkI thank my noble friend for his point about visits. It is hard to get this one right. Ministers should not be on site and getting in the way while an emergency is happening—but…10 Jan 2024