Contributions
308 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]I will speak to Amendment 2 in my name, and I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, and the noble Lords, Lord Roborough and Lord Sikka, for adding…20 Nov 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I shall speak to both Amendments 39 and 40 in my name. I am grateful for the kind support of the noble Baroness, Lady Browning, on Amendment 39 and of the noble…20 Nov 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]20 Nov 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]I very much appreciate the Minister’s comments, but as she will expect, I am unable to agree. She said that Ofwat is closely monitoring water company finances. Well, we are…20 Nov 2024HANSARDHouse of Lords ReformMy Lords, we are promised a substantial reform of the House of Lords. It is most certainly needed, but I wonder whether we will get it. The age cap may end up in the long grass…12 Nov 2024HANSARDBiodiversity Net GainAs we have some time left, may I ask the Minister to look into why farmers in the higher-level environmental protection scheme—the HLS—are being excluded from joining the SFI…06 Nov 2024HANSARDBiodiversity Net GainMy Lords, I am currently involved in negotiating with a developer on biodiversity net gain. This involves boxes of huge and very expensive files, which have to be redone every…06 Nov 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I will speak to three practical amendments in my name in this group: Amendments 44, 46 and 49. They are modest and proportionate—perhaps that is my catchphrase. I…30 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]I also support Amendment 37, which is, like its proposer, both modest and proportionate. It is obvious that this needs to be taken into account by the Minister. It is about…30 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]I would like clarification on a point. The Minister mentioned that there will be a map of overflows across the country. How near to real time will it be? She said that it will be…30 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, a thread that runs through many of these amendments is the divergence between the environmental objectives and the clean water consumption objectives. A number of times,…30 Oct 2024HANSARDIndependent Water CommissionDoes the Minister agree with me that the failures in the UK water industry derive from extractive financial engineering, which in turn led to poor investment in infrastructure,…29 Oct 2024HANSARDIndependent Water CommissionI urge that the commission takes a serious and practical look at resourcing. The Environment Agency has had its budget halved in the last decade, and it is pointless producing…29 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I also add my support for these amendments, and I agree with much of what has been said already. On the matter of water usage, I have lived in deserts and I find the…28 Oct 2024HANSARDWhistleblowersMy Lords, non-disclosure agreements are protective of the confidentiality of wrongdoers. They are frequently employed against whistleblowers. Is the Minister confident that…28 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]28 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 13 in my name. As this is my first contribution on an amendment of my own, I thank the Minister for meeting me, for the fact sheets and the…28 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I support the amendments, but I want to make one comment on the discussion, which has possibly strayed a little from the Bill. Dealing with surface run-off and, in…28 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 16 in my name. I underline at the outset that this is not about putting people on the board; if that is a misapprehension, I want to dispel it.…28 Oct 2024HANSARDWater (Special Measures) Bill [HL]I thank everyone who has participated in this. I think we are all concerned about financial engineering of one sort or another. It is not only borrowing, but that is clearly an…28 Oct 2024