Speeches by Hardy.

“That is a really interesting point. There are definitely things we can do as a country, and of course Minister Creagh is leading on recycling and circular economy. There are also definitely conversations that can be had with some big companies through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation about actions they can take as well. …”

“Last Thursday, the previous Secretary of State left everyone in no doubt as to what he thought about the situation; I wrote it down because I wanted to make sure I quoted him correctly. He was quite clear. He said, “The payment to the CEO of Yorkshire Water by its holding company has outraged customers and we have aske…”

“Yes, absolutely. There are some things that we are looking at changing. One is around water efficiency of your white goods and things like that, and how we are using water more efficiently than we have in the past. We need water-efficiency labelling as well so that if customers are going to buy a new washing machine, t…”

“When temporary use bans—hosepipe bans—come in, I am really keen to communicate and explain why to the people who are having to abide by them. I am not sure that is always communicated well enough in terms of the huge impact the drought has had on farmers, livestock, nature, chalk streams, fish and so on. When we ask pe…”

“Obviously I was not here in 2022, so I might ask David—who was the official in 2022—to answer that one for me.”

“You are right, it has been an incredible time: the driest spring in England since 1893 and the hottest June on record. As well as talking about this year, with the way the climate is changing I am making the presumption that this is going to be a more regular thing that happens each summer. In terms of the immediate ac…”

“This is what we have to address. The Water Special Measures Act was about banning unfair bonuses; if companies are trying to circumnavigate that and find a way around it, then we want to hold them to account.”

“Let me take that and give it to Minister Creagh because she is responsible for the Circular Economy Taskforce and I would not want to misrepresent her. I will ask her a little about the plastic waste exports and if that is something she is considering with the circular economy, then I can make sure the Committee has a …”

“Yes, of course. As I say, a huge focus is on resilience to the changing climate in terms of water, but one of the most meaningful things is the changes around the Green Book. I know the ears of some people who work for local government prick up whenever you mention the Green Book—other people might not be quite as exci…”

“In terms of the Green Book changes, they have happened so people have to go via the Green Book whenever they are doing anything, and they have to make it climate resilient. So that is done. In terms of the research, that was set up in April this year so it is active and working right now. We are also looking at what ot…”

“Sorry, I misunderstood. You are quite right; we need to be able to manage all our water courses effectively. As I say, I am happy to pick up on the specifics in your area that you have mentioned, as I know how awful it was for the people who suffered with the floods last time.”

“Of course.”

“I know my colleague, Minister Creagh, has been doing some work on the particulars around peatland and peatland management. I suppose the issue of wildfires probably comes more into farming, if I am being really honest with you. I talked before to Jenny about the management of water in that area and my vision for how we…”

“Thank you for writing to me about this issue. I just want to recognise that I completely understand the fear people have: once you have been flooded I do not think you ever get over it, so I understand why it is a worry in your constituency. Speaking more generally—rather than about your specific case—I know that the E…”

“I can obviously speak to everything relating to water on your questions. Looking at the horrendous time farmers have with floods, we have the NFU on the Floods Resilience Taskforce looking at water pollution, and I really want farmers to feel like we are doing this with them. I know that there is willingness across the…”

“My role would be looking at how we have a more resilient water system as a whole. As I say, that involves making sure that farmers have the water they need at the time they need it, so that is where I am seeing my role with this. You are right to point out that at the moment it has not been working. I know there are tr…”

“Of course the roadmap is being led by the farming Minister but we are going to respond formally to the Climate Change Committee’s report. We will give a formal response to all the points that it has made and the work that it is doing. As we have seen and felt this year and have just been talking about with Sarah, a lac…”

“We will respond formally but you take it on the chin and realise you have to work harder and do more, and that is exactly what we are trying to do. We take the report seriously and will respond formally. As I say, since then we have come out with a research plan and are making sure we have it in the 10-year infrastruct…”

“Just on a personal level, I went to Geneva with high hopes myself. I have to say our team—the people from DEFRA going out to represent the United Kingdom—were incredible, and I just want to pay tribute to them. To say that we were all disappointed is probably an understatement: we were incredibly disappointed not to ha…”

“It illustrates the importance of having the right regulation. We have asked Ofwat to investigate and look into this; it is not just about the letter of the law; it is about the spirit of the law. These companies had their bonuses banned because of pollution incidents and various other reasons. We did not do it on a whi…”