Contributions
535 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDAbsent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) BillMy Lords, I begin with a few words of thanks, first to my honourable friend in the other place, the Member for Edinburgh North and Leith, who has worked very hard in bringing this…05 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillI thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, for raising this important issue through Amendment 77. The Government fully recognise the need to accelerate electricity network upgrades to…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, the rules that determine whether a turbine can be classed as permitted development and not require a full planning application have not been updated for over a decade.…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillWe all share the opinion that we need to get this Bill on to the statute book speedily and to ensure that we have the growth to which the noble Baroness alludes. However, we need…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, let me take this opportunity to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Bloomfield, to her place on the Front Bench. I look forward to the exchanges ahead. I turn to Amendments…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, I turn to Amendments 80, 81, 82, 85A, 88B and 88C, which relate to Clause 18 and consents for electricity infrastructure in Scotland and delegated powers in the Bill. I…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, Amendment 82A, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, seeks to require long-duration electricity storage—LDES—operators to consult local fire authorities to assess the…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillLet me reassure my noble friend that transparency is absolutely important in this situation. Both my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Fuller, provided examples; of course, it…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillI take note of the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale, complementing the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and I recognise that there is a lot of work to do. I appreciate that the noble Lord has…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, I start with Amendments 90 and 177, which relate to local area energy plans. I thank the noble Earl, Lord Russell, the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, and the noble Lords,…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillI appreciate the noble Earl’s contribution, but I politely disagree in that there is a lot of advice and support from local net-zero hubs funded by DESNZ. I understand and…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, Amendment 94C, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, would create a new local area test, designed to limit the consenting of electricity infrastructure by reference…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, Amendment 94D tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, seeks to prohibit the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority—GEMA—from granting or considering early construction…01 Sept 2025HANSARDPlanning and Infrastructure BillMy Lords, I was beginning to feel a bit of déjà vu before the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, spoke in place of the noble Lord, Lord Jamieson. Amendment 94F, tabled by the noble…01 Sept 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, the Government will introduce legislation as soon as time allows during this Parliament to give 16 and 17 year-olds the right to vote in all elections. We recognise that…24 Jul 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, let me first say that the Government were elected on a clear mandate, which included lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK. This is a major change in…24 Jul 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, my noble friend makes an excellent point. We are confident that, with the right education and support, young people will participate meaningfully. Young people are the…24 Jul 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, let me say first that I always welcome encouragement from the noble Lord, and I will take that back. To address his question directly, we intend to actively explore and…24 Jul 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, the noble Baroness makes a very strong point. I will take it away, because ultimately we want to get more people registered and able to take part in our democracy. We…24 Jul 2025HANSARDVoting at 16My Lords, I am going to repeat the answer I gave to my noble friend. Education in our schools is a vital part of implementing this policy. In relation to knowledge and skills, we…24 Jul 2025