Speeches by Gibson.

“We do not measure the sulphides either, do we?”

“Thank you all for your answers so far. Thinking again about something that was mentioned by Professor Holgate, which was to do with the elderly and children, but particularly given that people from underprivileged areas tend to live in areas with higher levels of pollution, what steps could the Government take to reduc…”

“Thank you very much. That is a very clear ask of the Committee.”

“The grid connections reform process was intended to improve investor confidence by removing zombie projects and prioritising shovel-ready projects, but repeated delays from NESO mean that many developers are still waiting for their gate 2 connection offers, even for projects that are due to connect in 2026 and 2027. Th…”

“10. What recent progress he has made on improving connections to the electricity grid.”

“Thank you. I will.”

“A much smaller scale.”

“Thank you, Minister, for responding to our questions. I am just going back to the OEP’s progress report. It made recommendations regarding nature-friendly farming, picking up on some of the questions that my colleague has just asked, but it specifically asked for a fully evidenced and spatially explicit, resourced plan…”

“The only other question on housing and flooding would be that we are seeing an issue where properties are becoming uninsurable on flooding because of their location. What analysis has DEFRA done on that sort of issue, and on affordability for homes that might be within flood-risk areas?”

“Yes, I will give you more details. Thank you.”

“Going back to the quantities, which you have highlighted, that are there for investment until 2036—£10.5 billion sounds like a nice sum of money. What levels of reduction do you think that sum is going to achieve and deliver in the national flood risk? How does that compare with the situation getting worse due to incre…”

“There are industry bodies that may disagree with you, but I will leave that for the consultation. I am sure they will respond.”

“I have several questions. The Government highlighted £10.5 billion for flood resistance. Picking up on my colleague’s comments about the NPPF, I wonder what assessment DEFRA has made of the impact of recent changes to the NPPF and the planning guidance in terms of development in flood-risk areas. I make that point give…”

“The reason I wanted to highlight that is that the farmers in my constituency who have been attempting nature-friendly farming have, to date, found that inconsistency of funding and decision making is hampering their ability to do it. These are farmers who are deeply committed to reorganising the way their farms run, an…”

“Does the hon. Member agree that rural communities, such as mine and his, and villages such as Lyneham, which is famous for its serious airbase and is full of veterans, now find themselves with poor GP surgeries and no future for that? People in those villages are waiting longer and longer to get that care and feel comp…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the Petitions Committee for this important debate, and the 120,000 people across the country who signed the petition. I know from speaking to my constituents, from Lyneham to Corsham, that people feel frustrated, unheard and disappointed. People expect…”

“The latest NPPF makes it clear that transport planning and infrastructure should be designed in at the outset, but my rural constituency has seen continuous large-scale development outside towns, from which it takes 25 minutes to walk into a town centre. There are no buses. It is not like London where, after waiting fi…”

“Following on from that, have the Government given you any indication of their rationale for changing the target, why they have changed the way that they have measured this?”

“Following on from feeling that some of your advice does not make it into the report, you have said that it is not clear whether the new EIP for 2025 interim target on farm wildlife represents a reduction in ambition from the previous EIP in 2023 commitment. I am just wondering why you have not been able to judge this.”

“I was aware that the Minister had seen the boiler I mentioned. I welcome the warm homes plan immensely, but I have a slight worry about it. There is the old saying that doing the same thing again and expecting a different outcome is a sign of madness. My hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) highlighted that t…”