...auditor, must determine which councils are to be councils in respect of which subsection (1A) applies in that financial year. (1A) Each financial year, the”.— [Mr Durkan (The Minister of the Environment).] Amendment No 51 made: In page 54, line 26, after "each council” insert "to which this subsection applies in that financial year”.— [Mr Durkan (The Minister of the...
Sadiq Khan: Yes. The draft Environment Bill mandates the setting of two air quality targets, including one for PM2.5. However, the Bill only requires these targets to be set by October 2022 and the targets themselves may not need to be achieved for 15 years or more. Greater urgency and ambition is needed for the protection of human health. The draft Bill is currently in Parliament and Government has...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The actions the Government are already taking are entirely consistent with the need to tackle air pollution, which is the most serious environmental health threat to humans. The clean air strategy which we published in January last year was praised by the World Health Organization as an example for the rest of the world to follow. One of its key commitments was that the Government would...
Mr Kenneth Carlisle: This is the right Bill at the right time. The Bill is important and it is right that it responds to genuine concern in this country and elsewhere about the environment. It is responding to the feeling that we should do more to protect the environment and that we should do everything possible to control pollution. I am glad that the Government are responding in this way to genuine concerns....
Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The 25 Year Environment Plan and Abstraction Plan set out the Government’s commitment and actions to protect our water environment and the Environment Bill aims to strengthen this. Abstraction licence changes made by the Environment Agency since 2008 are returning 16 billion litres of water back to chalk streams per year and removed the risk of further 14.9 billion litres being abstracted...
Baroness Young of Old Scone: I have the terrible feeling that I am about to make a Second Reading speech, which is rather sad at this hour, but we are at the heart of what this Bill is all about, so such a speech is deserved. I am sure that the Government have great ambition for the Marine Management Organisation. If they had not, they would not have gone to the lengths that they have to devise a hefty Bill, to go...
...Borough Council and Lisburn City Council; (b) the statutory transition committee in relation to any other new council consists of members of the predecessor councils.” — [The Minister of the Environment (Mr Poots).] Amendment no 5 made: In page 9, line 17, leave out “predecessor council” and insert “council mentioned in subsection (4)”. — [The Minister of the Environment (Mr...
Angela Smith: I thank the Minister for introducing the second group of amendments, which relate to some very important provisions in the Bill. Lords Amendments 1 to 14 are largely drafting amendments, but they include some important additions to the Bill. Lords amendments 1 to 3 detail the efficient use of water resources and take into account the effect on the environment of water use, with particular...
Amendment No 57 made: In page 60, line 6, leave out "appointed by the Department”.— [Mr Durkan (The Minister of the Environment).] Amendment No 58 made: In page 60, line 7, at end insert "(c) a maximum of 5 representatives of such representative body or association of the district councils as appear to the Department to be appropriate,”.— [Mr Weir.] Amendment No 59 made: In page...
Mr Richard Buchanan: I welcome the Bill with some enthusiasm, in contrast to its reception by the hon. Member for Ross and Cromarty (Mr. Gray), who wishes to set up a Scottish development fund. Is not such a fund just what his hon. Friends were complaining about when they said that a development fund would simply issue doles, that there would be no monitoring and that firms which were receiving assistance would...
Bill Wiggin: I beg to move amendment No. 19, in clause 9, page 10, line 20, after 'notice', insert 'within five days'. I simply seek to ensure that the Environment Agency reacts with the same speed as the person who is abstracting during an emergency. Under the Bill as drafted, someone undertaking an emergency abstraction must give notice to the Environment Agency within five days. It seems only...
Bill Wiggin: I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. I agree that the Environment Agency would be the agency or specialist to which the Secretary of State would delegate the power to take the decision. That is how things should proceed and we debated it in earlier parts of the Bill. The new clause aims to provide a short cut so that the Environment Agency automatically acts on behalf of the Secretary...
Rhona Brankin: The Water Environment and Water Services Bill, which we plan to introduce to Parliament next year, will provide a new structure to protect Scotland’s water environment in a consistent and integrated manner. Measures in the bill, or related secondary legislation, may affect the treatment of sewage. We issued a consultation paper, Rivers, Lochs Coasts: the Future for Scotland’s Waters, on...
Nusrat Ghani: The hon. Lady has got the meme for her Facebook page. Unfortunately, she wholly misrepresents what the Bill is doing. Environmental standards will be maintained or enhanced. At the moment, the laws that come down from Brussels on the environment and land cover everything from the Arctic to the Mediterranean. This Bill is a great opportunity to maintain, to enhance and to review what more we...
Fiona Hyslop: ...responsible for many of our buildings must be commended for the work that they do. I thank all of those who have contributed to this thoughtful and thorough debate on the general principles of the bill. People may not have thought that the bill would generate one of the most interesting debates in the Parliament, but the contributions of Alasdair Allan, Ian McKee and others have shown...
Bill Wiggin: In 2002, we were promised improvements in the marine environment. In the 2002 document, "Working for the essentials of life", the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs stated: "DEFRA is working to improve marine conservation, to reduce pollution and to promote the sustainable use of the seas' natural resources." In 2004, the Prime Minister promised a marine Bill. He said that "on...
Julie James: Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. Today's debate on the supplementary legislative consent motion to the UK Environment Bill is brought without notice, and I thank Members for their time today. Members will recall the legislative consent motion on the UK Environment Bill passed on 28 September. My intention today is not to reopen debate on the provisions extending to Wales, but to notify...
Andy Burnham: I am today laying the draft Heritage Protection Bill and explanatory notes for pre-legislative scrutiny. Copies of the related Impact Assessment are available in the Vote and Printed Paper Offices. This is a draft Bill for England and Wales, which sets out the legislative framework for a unified and simpler heritage protection system that will be more open, accountable and transparent. The...
Sadiq Khan: The Government included a proposal for a mandatory biodiversity net gain in the Environment Bill. My Environment Strategy and London Plan included policies to develop and promote biodiversity net gain in anticipation of the framework that would be provided by Government legislation. Unfortunately, the Environment Bill has yet to be passed into law. Nevertheless, biodiversity net gain can also...
Mr David Ashby: When meeting Environment Ministers next week, will my right hon. Friend please take time to explain to them the most excellent Water Bill that is now before the House? Will my right hon. Friend explain to them that in relation to the environment the Bill takes measures to improve the waterways, the rivers and the beaches? Will she suggest that perhaps they should emulate us and produce a...