Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his introduction. Clearly, these amendments are technical and we agree with noble Lords that they are required. I agree with my noble friends Lord Lipsey and Lord Foulkes that this enormous number of amendments was chucked at us in one go, with very little time to look at the detail, not just of what they say but of what the implications are. Noble Lords...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: I apologise. Did the Minister just say that the amendments have nothing to do with Clause 14? They are amendments to Clause 14.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: The Minister did not address my concerns around consultation on the document. Will he come back on that, please?
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Scriven, and we agree with everything he has just said. This is the beginning of our debates on the Elections Bill, so I start by thanking the Minister and his officials for taking the time to meet me and my colleagues to go through some of our concerns. I turn to the amendments in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher—again,...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, I shall be brief and begin by confirming that the Labour Party fully endorses this proposed legislation. I also pay tribute to Sir Paul Beresford for promoting this important Bill in the other place and to the noble Lord, Lord Udny-Lister, for sponsoring it in your Lordships’ House. As my noble friend Lady Goudie just said, it is also supported by the Local Government Association....
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, this week’s IPCC report suggests increasingly severe climate impacts, with warnings that heatwaves and flooding are highly likely, including in the UK. Firefighters are the primary public service responding to flooding in the UK; heatwaves can cause wildfires, which firefighters increasingly face. Yet our fire and rescue service has seen huge cuts, including one in every five...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: In fact, it was meant to be the opposite.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, we have heard from the Minister that the Bill intends to make substantial changes to our electoral law. Despite its stated ambitions, however, it does not tackle the fundamental and widely recognised need to consolidate the voluminous and fragmented body of existing law. In fact, it will do the opposite. Together with the secondary legislation needed for implementation, it...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: My Lords, further to the questions from noble Lords around what has been in the press, if bans on foie gras and fur imports are to be dropped from the animals abroad Bill, can the Minister confirm whether the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, is being sidelined by the Government and his department? He has previously stated that the Government would legislate to ban fur imports at the earliest...
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the extent to which insulation can be a source of indoor air pollutants, (2) the impact of any such pollutants on occupant health, and (3) the impact of using nature-based insulation as a low pollutant source material.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the 2050 Net Zero target, whether they have assessed the amount of (1) energy required for, and (2) the global warming potential of, the manufacture of insulation materials.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quantity of insulation material needed to insulate the entirety of the UK’s building stock in time to meet the 2050 Net Zero target.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether breathable nature-based insulation is more appropriate for insulating older homes in the existing housing stock than synthetic products.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the 2050 Net Zero target, whether they have assessed the levels of embodied carbon contained in (1) synthetic, and (2) nature-based, insulation materials.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the potential for carbon storing nature-based insulation products to decarbonise the built environment, and (2) the impact such products could have on reaching the 2050 Net Zero target.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of proposals for a mechanism to inform consumers (1) how much embodied carbon an insulation product contains, and (2) whether, and if so how much, it stores biogenic carbon, through Environmental Product Declarations at the specifier level.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of showing potential consumers the relationship between energy savings and operational carbon versus stored biogenic carbon of insulation materials.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of using breathable nature-based insulation on the comfort, health and well-being of occupants.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the (1) quantity, and (2) mix, of insulation that will be needed for typical homes to enable the UK to hit its 2050 Net Zero target in respect of the built environment.
Baroness Hayman of Ullock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) existing UK manufacturing capacity, and (2) associated supply chains, in relation to the capacity required to insulate the entirety of the UK’s building stock in time to meet the 2050 Net Zero target.