Speeches by Chowns.

“Let us be really clear about this, Minister: Natural England is responsible for provision of environmental delivery plans, which are the mechanism for offsetting. Natural England cannot avoid or mitigate on-site damage; the developers who are doing the development on the site are the only actors who can possibly take s…”

“Under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill you have removed the requirement to do a site survey.”

“The first step of the mitigation hierarchy is to avoid environmental damage but, under the provisions of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, there is no requirement on developers to avoid that. It moves straight—”

“Do you not think it is possible to apply the mitigation hierarchy in a flexible manner, rather than jettison it entirely? Because the mitigation hierarchy—”

“But it does not address the mitigation hierarchy.”

“But normally the scientific evidence is a site survey for a development.”

“We raised in Committee that the opinion of the chief executive of Natural England appeared to conflict directly with the advice from the Office for Environmental Protection.”

“Some would love to see maintenance of existing levels of environmental protection, while being perfectly open to potential other mechanisms to achieve it. The concern with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill is the risk that it reduces environmental protection overall. One of the points that the OEP recommended in its…”

“I heard that, but my point is that under the Planning and Infrastructure Bill there is no longer a requirement to do a site-specific survey.”

““More likely”, not certain—”

“I can read you the quote—”

“I will come to the OEP’s latest letter in a moment, but on this specific point, without doing a site-specific survey, nobody knows—Natural England does not know, the Secretary of State does not know and the developers do not know—what natural features are there that may be impacted by development. It is therefore reall…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“Words do matter, but actions speak louder. What Members across the House and citizens of the country—our constituents—cannot understand is why the Foreign Secretary will not take the actions available to him to end UK complicity in this horror. A full arms embargo and an end to all military co-operation, a full ban on …”

“I have heard from and met with numerous constituents who are parents of children with special educational needs, all frustrated with the way that the system currently works. I welcome the Secretary of State saying she wants outcomes for children to be at the centre of reforms, but a parent of a child with an EHCP, whic…”

“The Minister referred to the anguish felt by the Ukrainian families who have been displaced. Does she recognise that uncertainty over visa conditions adds to the anguish faced by those families here in the UK, and indeed to that of their very generous hosts? Will she therefore commit to reviewing the situation and givi…”

“Can you say what impact you think climate change is having on nature and how the state of nature is affecting our ability to tackle climate change?”

“So you anticipate it becoming a more important area of focus?”

“Given the negative feedback loop you have just outlined, what degree of priority do you think the Committee on Climate Change should give to it in its reporting and recommendations? Do you want to see it emphasised more?”

“Specifically on that—I am glad you mentioned responding to carbon budget plans—can you tell me, Minister, why you still have not legislated for international aviation to be included in carbon budgets? Will you bring forward the secondary legislation for that before you come forward with the carbon budget 6 delivery pla…”