Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord Redesdale, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
A Bill to require the Secretary of State to achieve the nature target for the United Kingdom; and for connected purposes
Lord Redesdale has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Government’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan is a dynamic long-term plan, setting a course to reach net zero by 2050. The Plan demonstrates the UK's commitment to play a leading role in tackling climate change, with a domestic target and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) both consistent with the Paris Agreement temperature goal to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts towards 1.5°C. The UK over-achieved against the first and second carbon budgets, and latest projections show that the UK is on track to meet the third.
The Government welcomes independent recommendations to help limit global warming to 1.5C and to reach net zero. The Government has set ambitious targets to reach net zero by 2050, has overachieved on Carbon Budgets one and two, and is on track to deliver Carbon Budget three. The Climate Change Committee has stated that their confidence in the UK meeting Carbon Budget four has increased in the last year.
From 4 July, people can travel to holiday accommodation - including camping sites - for overnight stays in England.
Campsites will be allowed to reopen shared showering and toilet facilities. These facilities, as well as campsites’ waste and water points, should adhere to all Government guidance on cleaning and social distancing to minimise the risk of transmission.
This marks Step 3 in the Government’s recovery strategy. All decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health assessments.
From 4 July, people can travel to holiday accommodation - including camping sites - for overnight stays in England.
Campsites will be allowed to reopen shared showering and toilet facilities. These facilities, as well as campsites’ waste and water points, should adhere to all Government guidance on cleaning and social distancing to minimise the risk of transmission.
This marks Step 3 in the Government’s recovery strategy. All decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health assessments.
From 4 July, people can travel to holiday accommodation - including camping sites - for overnight stays in England.
Campsites will be allowed to reopen shared showering and toilet facilities. These facilities, as well as campsites’ waste and water points, should adhere to all Government guidance on cleaning and social distancing to minimise the risk of transmission.
This marks Step 3 in the Government’s recovery strategy. All decisions have been and will continue to be based on scientific evidence and public health assessments.
The Government has taken an ambitious approach to tackling plastic pollution. We have already banned microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, as well as banning and restricting commonly littered plastic items – including our upcoming restrictions on single use plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers from October this year. Our single use carrier bag charge has reduced the use of single use carrier bags by 98% in the main retailers and in the Plan for Water, we recently announced that we will change the law to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic subject to public consultation, which will be launched in Autumn 2023.
The UK Government is also proud to have supported the proposal by Rwanda and Peru that led to the ambitious resolution to start negotiating an international legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, agreed at the United Nations Environment Assembly in March 2022. The UK is proud to be a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a coalition of like-minded Governments that are committed to achieving an ambitious international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution. The High Ambition Coalition has agreed a common ambition to end plastic pollution by 2040, underpinned by strategic goals and deliverables.
Defra are aware of some developments, such as in Cambridge and North Sussex, which are seeing objections to planning concerning water availability and the impact on the environment. Defra is working closely with DLUHC to identify solutions to overcome these barriers to enable growth.
The UK, as party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), is committed to meeting a global target to reduce the overall risks from pesticides and highly hazardous chemicals by at least half by 2030, as agreed at COP15 as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Individual countries will be starting from different baseline positions in making their contributions to the overall global target and the UK will need to update and submit its National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans by the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity, in 2024.
The UK is also committed to publishing a National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP), which will outline how we will take action to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment, while ensuring pests and pesticide resistance can be managed effectively.
We are developing a cross-government Chemicals Strategy to frame the work we are doing across chemicals and put us on a path towards improved chemicals management. It will set out our priorities and principles for taking regulatory action to protect human health and the environment. Internationally, the UK is participating in negotiations for a new global framework for the safe and effective management of chemicals, to replace the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management.
In the specific case, I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave to PQ HL5950. Generally, the most common reasons why a permit for installations may not be authorised are operator competence (ability to operate a regulated facility and fulfil the obligations of an operator), the activity posing unacceptable risk to people and the environment, or that insufficient information is provided to allow for assessment of potential impacts.
Environmental permitting regulations specify statutory timescales for the Environment Agency (EA) to consider permit applications and the EA also has its own performance measures and is subject to corporate reporting.
The EA communicates with operators through sector bodies and on individual applications about its timescales to enable them to make their applications in time for projects to proceed. The EA also provides an enhanced pre-application service to applicants which helps improve application quality and applicants’ understanding about the time it will take to obtain a decision. The EA also works with applicants to consider prioritising applications that are time-sensitive or critical. Environmental permits are often one of a number of permissions and measures that an operator will need in place prior to commencing a project.
To fulfil the EA’s statutory duties, it must be satisfied that the risk to the environment and communities from proposed activities is minimised and managed. Activities that are higher in risk, complex, or novel take longer to determine.
To provide a more comprehensive response to a number of outstanding Written Questions, this has been answered by an information factsheet PPE - note for House of Lords which is attached, due to the size of the data. A copy has also been placed in the Library.
Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for and has published guidance on infection control protocols (IPC) and guidance on how health care professionals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety. A copy of PHE’s published guidance COVID-19: infection prevention and control guidance is attached.
NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28 May that National Health Service dentistry outside urgent care centres will begin to restart from 8 June with the aim of increasing levels of service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety. The letter outlines that practices need to consider the PHE guidance on IPC and PPE in order to deliver care in a way that is safe, operationally deliverable and allows dental practices flexibility to do what is best for patients and their teams. A copy of the letter is attached.
Public Health England (PHE) is responsible for and has published guidance on infection control protocols (IPC) and guidance on how health care professionals should wear personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure their safety. A copy of PHE’s published guidance COVID-19: infection prevention and control guidance is attached.
NHS England and NHS Improvement announced on 28 May that National Health Service dentistry outside urgent care centres will begin to restart from 8 June with the aim of increasing levels of service as fast as is compatible with maximising safety. The letter outlines that practices need to consider the PHE guidance on IPC and PPE in order to deliver care in a way that is safe, operationally deliverable and allows dental practices flexibility to do what is best for patients and their teams. A copy of the letter is attached.