Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts

Thursday 4th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

I assure my hon. Friend that I have had numerous conversations with leading academics in her great city, and I would be happy to have further conversations along those lines.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Select Committee.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

In June, the Scottish Government made a very welcome commitment not to pursue a deliberate policy of reducing livestock numbers. Despite that, livestock numbers in Scotland continue to fall and have fallen by 15% over 10 years, so that across the United Kingdom we now risk losing the critical mass we need to maintain the network of abattoirs, hauliers, vets and merchants. If food security genuinely is national security, is now the moment to consider including within the remit of the Climate Change Committee the maintenance of food security?

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[Steve Reed]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on raising that important issue, and I agree with the points he makes. The SNP Government in Scotland should be taking a much tougher line against such situations, as it is not acceptable. Levels of pollution in England are bad enough, but under the SNP in Scotland they are even worse, and the SNP Government should be fully ashamed—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Let us carry on. I call Mr Joshua Reynolds.

[Mr Joshua Reynolds (Maidenhead) (LD)]

The public will have been pleased to hear recently about the bonus ban for water company bosses, but they would have been equally surprised to hear that a water company boss in England was awarded a massive pay increase to £1.4 million, with the public being told that that was not a bonus but a two-year long incentive plan. What further steps can the Secretary of State put in place to ensure that water companies are playing fair, when those are the tactics that they use to circumvent the rules?

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[Dave Doogan (Angus and Perthshire Glens) (SNP)]

Unbelievably, the Secretary of State has just doubled down, in the House, on the falsehood that he advanced on 21 July on “Channel 4 News” that pollution levels are worse in Scotland than they are in England. I am sure that the Secretary of State does not want to mislead the House. Will he take the opportunity to correct the record—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. “Falsehood” is not a word we would use. I am sure more constructive wording could be used.

[Dave Doogan]

Thank you for your guidance, Mr Speaker.

The Secretary of State has inadvertently advanced the same argument that he did on 21 July on “Channel 4 News”. Will he clarify that pollution levels under publicly owned Scottish Water are substantially better than those under privately owned English water companies? Will he recognise that Scottish bill payers pay lower bills and that Scottish Water’s borrowing is sustainable and consistent with the value and quality of Scotland’s water?

[Steve Reed]

The hon. Gentleman is showing why the problem persists—if the SNP does not recognise the problem, there is no way that it can fix it. I have published the data and I stand by it: pollution under the SNP in Scotland is even worse than it was under the Tories in England. He should be thoroughly ashamed of what he is doing to the beautiful countryside of the country that he represents.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

The future of Thames Water is in sharp focus again, affecting millions of people and potentially the wider UK taxpayer. Bizarrely, the third party—along the Benches to my left—led legal action that could have sunk the company. Reform UK is also happy for the company to go under, exposing taxpayers to a cost of billions and pushing consumer water bills through the roof. This Labour Government, in the passing of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, repeatedly blocked our Conservative amendment that would have enabled limits to be placed on the amount of money that can be borrowed by water companies.

As we reach a precipice with Thames Water, and given the Cunliffe review’s clear call for improved financial responsibility, will the Government rethink their approach and adopt sensible measures to put water companies on a more stable and secure financial footing to protect water, the environment and the British taxpayer?

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[Daniel Zeichner]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman and that is why the consultation has been taking place. These are complicated issues, and sometimes controversial, but we all want to get those moorlands into a state where we are not subject to these dreadful fires.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

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[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

We in North Dorset would love to be talking about ministerial visits from the DEFRA team, but, despite an invitation to the Farming Minister, none have crossed the border to visit.

North Dorset farmers and landowners wish to play their active and fullest part to ensure that, through nitrate neutrality and other farming mechanisms, they are improving water quality to help the rivers that flow to the coast of Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and so on. Will the Secretary of State ensure that bodies such as the Environment Agency and others that advise our farmers provide consistent advice in a timely fashion in order to maximise their enthusiasm?

[Mr Speaker]

Adjournment debate required.

[Steve Reed]

I have enjoyed visiting Milton Abbas on many very happy occasions. I agree with the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. We are working with farmers and landowners to ensure that they are getting the support they need to take the kind of action that he talks about. The new regional tier proposed by Sir Jon Cunliffe will give a place where farming and land managers can raise their voices and ensure that the outcomes they can contribute to are delivered.

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[Patrick Hurley]

Over the summer, we saw the announcement of a £50 million investment into Southport’s waste water treatment works to reduce the number of sewage overflows to just three per bathing season, allowing Southport to once again become the jewel in the crown of the north-west coast. Does the Minister agree that that level of investment is very much needed after more than a decade of Tory neglect of our waterways, and that it shows the difference a town can see when it has a Labour MP, a Labour council, a Labour metro mayor and a Labour Government here in Westminster?

[Mr Speaker]

Minister, that is a tough one.

[Emma Hardy]

Unsurprisingly, I could not agree more. I thank my hon. Friend for his work to champion his community here in Parliament. The previous Government oversaw record levels of sewage pollution in our rivers, lakes and seas, but this Government have secured £104 billion of private investment to upgrade crumbling pipes and halve sewage pollution by 2030, so that communities can once again take pride in their rivers, lakes and seas.

[Ellie Chowns (North Herefordshire) (Green)]

As I have reminded Ministers on a number of occasions, tackling pollution in our rivers and seas requires us to address agricultural pollution as well as sewage pollution. I am disappointed not to hear the Minister mention that, but I like to come with solutions. I recently visited the Wyescapes landscape recovery project in my constituency, which is an innovative farmer-led project of 49 farmers protecting soil, reducing pollution, restoring nature and producing great-quality food. Will the Minister, or perhaps her colleague the Farming Minister, come to visit this innovative project to see how we can tackle river pollution and protect nature and food production?

[Mr Speaker]

Another Adjournment debate needed.

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Lady raises a really important point. Agricultural pollution is incredibly serious, and this Government recognise that. We have updated the DEFRA statutory guidance for the farming rules for water, and I recently hosted a roundtable with farmers, environmental organisations and the water industry to bring the voices of stakeholders to the fore. We have committed to including a new regional element in the new regulator to ensure greater involvement in water planning. By moving to a catchment-based model for water systems planning, we can tackle all sources of pollution entering the waterways, including agricultural pollution.

I have a very keen interest in the River Wye; I went to see it last year, and it is absolutely beautiful. The hon. Lady will be well aware of the research project with £1 million of funding that we announced to look into all sources of pollution and what we can do to clean up this beautiful place in our country.

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[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Gentleman will be pleased to know that we will be making announcements on this very shortly. [Interruption.] We are picking up a disastrous mess inherited from the previous Government—this is absolutely true—who were quite cavalier about the way in which these schemes were run. We are having to clear up that mess, but I absolutely sympathise with farmers, who should not have been put in that position in the first place.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Vikki Slade (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

Given the Secretary of State’s love of Dorset, I would love to invite him to Mid Dorset, where Goodens farm is doing some really innovative things on very small family farms, especially with manure. Mr Randall, who runs that farm, joined the sustainable farming incentive last year, which enabled him to start growing a new crop—herbal leys. Because climate change is making farming so tough, he is trying everything he can to keep his business going. The SFI allowed him to take that risk, but it is no longer available to him. As he put it, we need farm security if we want food security, so what steps is the Minister taking to look after farmers on our very smallest farms, who are critical to food production?

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[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

[Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle) (Con)]

May I join the Secretary of State and everyone across the Chamber in thanking the fire services, farmers and rural communities for their hard work and bravery in tackling the wildfires that we have seen this summer?

I am heartened to discover the Secretary of State’s new fondness for farmers. We will all be listening carefully to his answer to the next question. With 89% of farmers saying that they have paused or delayed investment because of the Budget, and with food prices rising, record farm closures under his watch, and Labour’s own think-tank admitting that the family farm tax needs changing, will he finally do the right thing, put rural communities above his own ambitions and axe the family farm tax?

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[The Solicitor General]

I am more than happy to look at that, but the point the hon. Member makes about international co-operation is extremely important. That is why I highlighted our groundbreaking deal with France—it is a deal that the Conservatives were unable to do—which will be absolutely key to stopping people crossing the channel.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Solicitor General.

[Helen Grant (Maidstone and Malling) (Con)]

I completely disagree with what the Solicitor General has said about the previous Government’s record in this area, and it is a bit rich in view of her Government’s record over the past 12 months. Reports reveal that Ministers will soon replace immigration judges with professionally trained adjudicators. We are told that is to tackle the 51,000 case appeal backlog, which will of course involve cases of people smugglers. Can she please confirm how long it will take to put that in place and whether it will require primary legislation?

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[The Solicitor General]

I am very sorry to hear about the position that my hon. Friend’s constituent has been put in. I am sorry to say that it encapsulates perfectly why fraud is so damaging. The Government are doing everything in our power to crack down on fraud and corruption and support victims of these crimes. I am more than happy to meet my hon. Friend to see what more might be done in this case.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

[Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)]

The newly built Launceston primary school in my constituency was demolished and then rebuilt, costing millions of pounds because of serious defects in the building. The contractor at fault went into administration. Unfortunately, this is far from a stand-alone case; it is happening across the country. Individual developers are putting their companies into liquidation and then setting up a new one, evading their obligations to finish vital infrastructure such as roads and sewage works. Such cases often leave Government Departments, homeowners and the British taxpayer out of pocket. What steps is the Serious Fraud Office taking to tackle these all-too-common cases, and will the Solicitor General please consider new legislation to prevent such developers from getting away with such serious fraud?