Contributions
1,571 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsIt is simply an objective fact that we are the first Government specifically to tackle sewage overflows in the way that we have. We are the first Government to set a legal…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsMy Lords, as of 31 March this year, water companies have reported total borrowing of £57.6 billion. Privatisation of the water sector has delivered around £170 billion of…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsWe very much share the overwhelming view of the population of this country that more action needs to be taken to protect not just the health of our waters but the resilience of…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsI am not convinced that the record in Wales is significantly better than the one here. A report today, which I am surprised has not been brought up yet, showed a worrying increase…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsI am deeply worried about it. As I said, I do not pretend for a second that we do not have a problem with pollution; we do. Incidentally, this is not a UK problem but one that…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsIt is a good question and a number of steps are being taken at the moment. As part of the commitment that the water companies have made on investment, the numbers for which I…05 Sept 2022HANSARDWater Companies: BorrowingsI cannot answer questions on the two companies but will ask the Minister responsible for this area and get back to the noble Baroness. The reason we took the steps we took in the…05 Sept 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 9 June be approved. Considered in Grand Committee on 12 July. Relevant document: 5th Report from the Secondary Legislation…18 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringMy Lords, the UK’s international development strategy has British expertise at its core. Our rich culture of volunteering means we have the experience and expertise to effectively…12 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringMy noble friend makes a very good point and I am not going to argue with him. The value of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the Sea Cadets and Combined Cadet Force is absolutely…12 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringMy Lords, I am not going to disagree with the noble Lord on the value of volunteering and the promotion of volunteering in recent years—I do not think anyone would argue with…12 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringI will have to refer the noble Baroness to a previous answer. I cannot comment on funding commitments for specific programmes. However, the value of the scheme she has described,…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022My Lords, this instrument was laid in draft before this House on 9 June. It makes an exclusion from the market access principles of the UK Internal Market Act, or UKIM Act, for…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022I thank noble Lords for their contributions to this debate. Although the instrument that we are discussing is fairly narrow, the topics covered have been very broad, and rightly…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022Very good, thank you. She works very closely on the issue we are discussing. I am merely her mouthpiece in this Room, because the domestic part of this is not directly part of my…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022That the Grand Committee do consider the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022. Relevant…12 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringMy Lords, I have to be honest that I do not know a huge amount about this scheme; it has been raised in previous debates on this issue, but only at a very high level, so I cannot…12 Jul 2022HANSARDInternational Development Strategy: VolunteeringMy Lords, the Government agree with the premise of the question from the noble Baroness but take issue with the last bit on abandonment by the Government. The reality is that the…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022I do not doubt what the noble Baroness has said. There are lots of things internationally we could be doing. We should be taking a stronger position, in my view, on deep sea…12 Jul 2022HANSARDUnited Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (Exclusions from Market Access Principles: Single-Use Plastics) Regulations 2022The truth is that this fairly crude speech that I am delivering, which the noble Lord could deliver more eloquently, could apply to most of the topics that we debate, and that is…12 Jul 2022