To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to (a) define and regulate the classification of ocean plastic and related environmental claims and (b) tackle marketing practices where products are marketed as made from ocean plastic or beach clean materials...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to (a) define and regulate the classification of ocean plastic and related environmental claims and (b) tackle marketing practices where products are marketed as made from ocean plastic or beach clean materials...

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Scottish counterpart on the potential impact of plastic pollution on beaches in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Inverness, Skye and West Ross Shire constituency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Scottish counterpart on the potential impact of plastic pollution on beaches in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Inverness, Skye and West Ross Shire constituency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of beach closures caused by pollution on tourism in coastal communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of beach closures caused by pollution on tourism in coastal communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) polluted and (b) unsafe (i) beaches and (ii) bathing areas have signage to alert the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that (a) polluted and (b) unsafe (i) beaches and (ii) bathing areas have signage to alert the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department plans to provide to assist with the environmental clean-up of beaches in Boston and Skegness constituency following the recent North Sea oil tanker collision.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department plans to provide to assist with the environmental clean-up of beaches in Boston and Skegness constituency following the recent North Sea oil tanker collision.

Ten minute rule motion for leave to bring in a Bill. Agreed to on question. Presentation and first reading (Bill 217). To be read a second time on 14 June.

Ten minute rule motion for leave to bring in a Bill. Agreed to on question. Presentation and first reading (Bill 217). To be read a second time on 14 June.

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about monitoring and reporting of water quality in bathing water sites in coastal areas; and for connected purposes.

I am proud to represent some of the finest and cleanest beaches in the world. North Devon is...

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about monitoring and reporting of water quality in bathing water sites in coastal areas; and for connected purposes.

I am proud to represent some of the finest and cleanest beaches in the world. North Devon is...

Lords motion to take note of of (1) the state of pollution in rivers, and (2) the case for regulation of private water companies. Agreed to on question.

Lords motion to take note of of (1) the state of pollution in rivers, and (2) the case for regulation of private water companies. Agreed to on question.

My Lords, the House is sadly becoming used to Questions and debates on sewage overflows, the quality of waterways and water company CEOs’ pay. I do not apologise for raising the issue again.

Water companies continue to discharge sewage into rivers, lakes and coastlines. At the same time, the Government are...

My Lords, the House is sadly becoming used to Questions and debates on sewage overflows, the quality of waterways and water company CEOs’ pay. I do not apologise for raising the issue again.

Water companies continue to discharge sewage into rivers, lakes and coastlines. At the same time, the Government are...

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. I co-chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water, and last year I chaired a study organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management into bioresources strategy. I also worked with the water regulator for Scotland, the...

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. I co-chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Water, and last year I chaired a study organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management into bioresources strategy. I also worked with the water regulator for Scotland, the...

Will my noble friend give way?

Will my noble friend give way?

We are on a timer, so I will take advice on whether we are permitted to take interventions. Does the Clock stop if I take an intervention?

We are on a timer, so I will take advice on whether we are permitted to take interventions. Does the Clock stop if I take an intervention?

I am afraid that I cannot give way.

Large-scale developments built in inappropriate places, such as zone B flood plains, compound that with poor connections. We must tackle the problems of sewage at source, before it enters the rivers and sea. While the Government make the case for building on flood...

I am afraid that I cannot give way.

Large-scale developments built in inappropriate places, such as zone B flood plains, compound that with poor connections. We must tackle the problems of sewage at source, before it enters the rivers and sea. While the Government make the case for building on flood...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, for securing this debate and congratulate her on setting out the issues in her superb speech. I will concentrate on regulatory issues.

The key principles of effective regulation are that the regulator must be independent, must levy effective sanctions,...

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, for securing this debate and congratulate her on setting out the issues in her superb speech. I will concentrate on regulatory issues.

The key principles of effective regulation are that the regulator must be independent, must levy effective sanctions,...

My Lords, it is such a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, who really does his homework. I advocate to the Government Benches reading his speech in Hansard just to make sure that they have got the full picture.

I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on bringing this...

My Lords, it is such a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Sikka, who really does his homework. I advocate to the Government Benches reading his speech in Hansard just to make sure that they have got the full picture.

I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on bringing this...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell and all those who are speaking. I will talk about the scale of the pollution problem in our rivers and the causes, and will suggest some possible solutions.

The scale of the Government’s...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell and all those who are speaking. I will talk about the scale of the pollution problem in our rivers and the causes, and will suggest some possible solutions.

The scale of the Government’s...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville for tabling this very important topic for debate. She has described the consequences for our rivers of discharging raw sewage from storm overflows; the health problems that follow can be very serious, but I will start with some...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville for tabling this very important topic for debate. She has described the consequences for our rivers of discharging raw sewage from storm overflows; the health problems that follow can be very serious, but I will start with some...

My Lords, I declare my agricultural interests, which may be relevant to this debate. I also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on securing this debate. I am slightly saddened to hear, from various sides, party-political views on this matter. In my opinion, this is not a party political issue....

My Lords, I declare my agricultural interests, which may be relevant to this debate. I also congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, on securing this debate. I am slightly saddened to hear, from various sides, party-political views on this matter. In my opinion, this is not a party political issue....

My Lords, I too thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville for her excellent speech and for securing this important debate. It follows on from the one held in the Chamber on “Water and Sewage Companies: Directors’ Remuneration” on 22 February. I urge your Lordships to read that...

My Lords, I too thank my noble friend Lady Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville for her excellent speech and for securing this important debate. It follows on from the one held in the Chamber on “Water and Sewage Companies: Directors’ Remuneration” on 22 February. I urge your Lordships to read that...