Oral Answers to Questions

Danny Chambers Excerpts

Thursday 4th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I am in close contact with domestic fertiliser suppliers. I held a ministerial roundtable with them and industry leaders across food farming and the supply chain to hear about the pressures and confirm our readiness to act when required, so the hon. Lady can be assured that we will do that. Let me take this opportunity to welcome her to her role on the Opposition Front Bench—she is a sort of constituency neighbour, really.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

6. What steps she is taking to help improve water quality.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

The Government are serious about holding water companies to account and maintaining high drinking water standards. Just this week, South West Water has rightly been fined £1.85 million—a record fine for a drinking water offence—for failures that led to a cryptosporidium outbreak in the Brixham area of Devon. We will keep taking action so that communities can have safe, clean and reliable drinking water.

[Dr Chambers]

The Government’s own Veterinary Medicines Directorate is really concerned that pet flea treatments sold in supermarkets are washing pesticides into Britain’s lakes, waterways and chalk streams and killing aquatic life. Those treatments include ingredients such as fipronil and imidacloprid, which is banned from agricultural use to protect bees. Millions of pets are blanket-treated every month, whether they need it or not, and we already require professional advice before selling similar products to treat parasites in farm animals. Will the Minister commit to reclassifying these products so that they can no longer be sold off a supermarket shelf without professional advice? A chemical that is too dangerous for use in agriculture probably should not be available over a counter.

[Emma Hardy]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s expertise in this area. This is a serious issue; a scientific group is looking at it and will give advice to Ministers on what is the best course of action to take.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

I will take away the hon. Lady’s comments, discuss them with Justice Ministers and confirm the position to her in writing.

[Dr Danny Chambers (Winchester) (LD)]

5. What steps she is taking to ensure the effective prosecution of domestic abuse cases.

[The Solicitor General]

Domestic abuse has a significant impact on victims and their families, and those who are brave enough to come forward deserve to have their cases resolved quickly. Earlier this year, as I have set out, I secured additional funding of £5 million, so that victims of domestic abuse in the Crown court get a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team. I also visited Crown Prosecution Service Wales, where the police and CPS are piloting police-led charging decisions in some domestic abuse cases to speed up decision making and get justice for victims quickly.

[Dr Chambers]

One form of domestic abuse is financial abuse and coercion. I have been made aware of a Child Maintenance Service case in my constituency that has been repeatedly dropped at the magistrate level because of one parent failing to attend the hearing. That means that the CMS withdraws the case, not prosecuting the parent who refuses to attend, and leaving the other one trapped and without any means of escaping the loop of financial abuse. Does the Minister agree that it is deeply troubling that a case is simply dropped, without any repercussions, if a parent does not attend the hearing?

[The Solicitor General]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that case on behalf of his constituent. He is right to highlight the fact that many people use financial abuse as a form of coercive, controlling behaviour and a form of domestic abuse, and we should call that what it is. I commend the bravery of any victims who come forward. If he writes to me about the case, I would be happy to look into it for him.