Speeches by Gibson.

“A much smaller scale.”

“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…”

“Thank you. I will.”

“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…”

“As somebody who suffers enormously from the cold—as anyone can see from my hands, which are already white—I really appreciate my hon. Friend for bringing this point forward. The warm homes plan is incredibly welcome, but I am worried about the order in which it suggests interventions. The idea that we should be putting…”

“The disasters involving South East Water in my hon. Friend’s constituency are frightening. In my constituency, Thames Water managed to put water in the wrong town, and the residents of the small town that was affected could not go and find it because they had no transport. Thames Water did not tell anyone that the wate…”

“That is going to affect the ability of carbon budget 7 to deliver.”

“Thank you, panel. I am interested in trying to assess whether today’s energy, transport and other everyday systems are still defaulting households to higher-carbon choices, even if they wish to change. What is that going to do for the delivery of carbon budget 7? I am aiming this mostly at Professor Whitmarsh.”

“It is something that local authorities can do but it is much more difficult for a private individual and, therefore, needs to be controlled centrally.”

“The seventh carbon budget really depends on this rapid scale-up of low-carbon heating, which you have talked about before. Ms Cook, aiming this question particularly at the knowledge that you will have on this, how far do installer availability, planning systems and uneven local authority capacity currently limit what …”