Speeches by Davies.

“Does that include sharing best practice? When we went to that site, they had invested a huge amount of money in, I think, an Australian piece of equipment to remediate the ground—the surface water. This gave us the impression that it was really the manufacturers of that equipment that were leading the charge in that sp…”

“What about specifically in terms of remediation for highly contaminated sites, rather than looking ahead to avoiding it happening again?”

“Right, okay. Well, we are just going off the information that we have here, but we will note that. Thank you.”

“You need four Back Benchers from the Government party to have a 90-minute debate in Westminster Hall. You only have three.”

“You touched on the tension between who has responsibility for this space—DSIT or DHSC. Which would you like the answering Department to be?”

“With respect to the statement following the Prime Minister’s visit to China and Japan, I thank him for being in the room and challenging China on its appalling human rights record and for fighting for British jobs. With respect to his visit to Japan, did the issue of Toyota come up? Toyota is a significant employer in …”

“That is very helpful. Could I ask you about specific Government Departments, because obviously they all have an obligation to implement the EPPS? Are there any specific Departments about which you have concerns and is that due to a lack of awareness within the Department of the importance of this suite of principles, o…”

“It may be the case that assessments are not frequently published by Ministers. What steps do you think could be taken to provide that clarity to the public?”

“One more question, if I may, Chair. Those Government Departments that have a wide estate of facilities around the country or that oversee arm’s-length bodies or quangos—the NHS is a good example—are they expected to apply EPPS principles in the decisions that they make?”

“You say you broadly were aligned to DEFRA’s findings. Is that from its November review?”

“I hope this is not a flippant question, but do you feel the public know who you are?”

“I read that the public have the ability to contact you if they have a concern. Do people do that frequently? Have many members of the public contacted you about the EPPS?”

“Thank you to the witnesses for your insights today. I have some questions about the environmental principles policy statements, which I understand were introduced in 2023 as a suite of principles to guide Government Departments in managing our impact on the environment. I understand that they were welcomed by your orga…”

“On that point—and I will accept your guidance, Chairman, on whether this is appropriate, as you are a much longer-standing Member than I—would it lend itself well to an urgent question or asking a Minister to give a statement? I know this is a big issue: we all want to see Royal Mail succeed, and postal workers are gen…”

“When we had an urgent question on business rates last week, I raised the issue of grassroots music venues, so I am pleased that the Minister confirmed today that there will be 15% off business rates for pubs and grassroots music venues. As he seeks to build on the permanently lower multipliers and the excess of £4 bill…”

“I think we have some good stuff coming forward in that space, and you are right to highlight the river walks. If you have any influence, please lean in and say the Derwent valley needs a report. That would be fantastic. Perhaps I could hear from you, Livi, about your thoughts on delivery and whether you share some of t…”

“I very much welcome the publication of this £15 billion warm homes plan, which will get people’s bills down and reduce our impact on the environment. I was particularly interested to hear of the £90 million that has been set aside for the development of heat pumps, because Vaillant—one of the world’s leading manufactur…”

“Richard, to what extent do you share the concerns of the OEP regarding the delivery and implementation of the strategy?”

“Leaning into your area of expertise, air quality, and the complicated web of different Government Departments that are involved in moving the dial on that issue, the OEP questions whether in some areas of the revised EIP there were the necessary targets to measure progress, provide transparency and allow scrutiny. Do y…”

“When the revised environmental improvement plan was published in December, many stakeholders and people invested in these issues welcomed it warmly. However, there were some questions around delivery and implementation, and I think we have touched on some of those points. Ruth, to what extent do you share those concern…”