Lord Bates
That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty as follows:
“Most Gracious Sovereign—We, Your Majesty’s most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, beg leave to thank Your Majesty for the most gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament”.
The Minister of State, Home Office and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Lord Greenhalgh) (Con)
My Lords, on behalf of your Lordships’ House, I thank Her Majesty for her gracious Speech. I am greatly honoured to be called on to open today’s debate on the Motion for an humble Address. I am delighted to be joined by my noble friend Lord Goldsmith, who will deliver what I am sure will be an excellent summing-up. Given the wealth of experience represented on all sides of the House, both my noble friend and I look forward to a spirited and well-informed debate.
Today, I will outline the Government’s plans regarding communities, welfare, transport and the environment, which are at the heart of our agenda as we bounce back and build back from the pandemic. The Government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was focused on two things: protecting lives and protecting livelihoods. To protect lives, we have secured access to more than 400 million vaccine doses and established the largest testing infrastructure in Europe. The vaccine is now available to everyone over 38 years old. To protect livelihoods, the Government have provided an unprecedented level of financial support for businesses and individuals, protecting more than 9 million jobs with the furlough scheme, while helping millions of businesses to stay afloat. Today, we embark on the next phase of cautiously easing national lockdown restrictions, including overnight stays between households and the reopening of hotels, pubs and restaurants indoors.
Building back better from the pandemic means delivering decent, safe and well-designed homes for everyone in our country. That is why the gracious Speech includes a planning reform Bill. It will simplify and modernise the system, embracing digital tools to allow people to visualise and engage with local plans. It will provide a quicker, simpler planning process, speeding up the delivery of the homes that the country needs. It will give a new focus to environmental protections, streamlining environmental impact assessments. It will ask every local area to produce its own design code to reflect its unique identity. It will ensure that developers pay for their fair share of affordable housing and infrastructure, which is why we are exploring a simpler, faster and more transparent infrastructure levy.
We must also take measures to ensure that those homes are a safe and secure environment to live in. I have been horrified by the testimony at the Grenfell inquiry, which highlighted where corners were cut and lives unnecessarily put at risk. That is why the landmark building safety Bill will bring about once-in-a-generation improvements to building safety in this country. The House may recall my remarks to the construction sector last year, when I said that that my goal as building safety Minister was to make it raise its game and thus put myself out of a job. Those noble Lords who wish to see that day come to pass may wish to consider supporting this legislation. The Bill will establish the new building safety regulator, with clear duties and responsibilities for building owners and managers. It will improve accountability and responsibility, ensuring that residents are able to raise concerns and that building owners are held to account.
Our commitment to fairness in the housing market includes securing a fairer deal for future leaseholders. For too many, the dream of home ownership has been soured by leases imposing crippling ground rents, additional fees and onerous conditions. People’s homes should be theirs to live in and enjoy, not an income stream for third-party investors. That is why the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill will put an end to ground rents for new leasehold properties, as part of the most significant changes to property law in a generation.
Last Thursday, we launched the Commonhold Council, an advisory panel of leasehold groups and industry experts which I will chair, to inform the Government on the future of commonhold ownership. This follows recommendations made by the Law Commission to simplify and expand the commonhold system. It will pave the way for millions of homeowners in England to take greater control over their homes, with a greater say on their buildings’ management, shared facilities and related costs. Together, these reforms put us on a journey to give more security to millions of existing leaseholders across England, making home ownership fairer, simpler and cheaper.
The Government also want to deliver a better rental sector that works for tenants and landlords. We will bring forward a White Paper in the autumn detailing our broad package of reforms. This will include more detail on how we will reform tenancy law to abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions; measures to improve security for tenants in the private rented sector, empowering them to hold their landlord to account; and measures to strengthen the repossession grounds for landlords when it is fair and reasonable to do so. We will also outline proposals for a new lifetime deposit model, easing the burden on tenants when moving, and continue to deliver on the social housing White Paper proposals, including implementing the charter for social housing residents, and to legislate on social housing regulations as soon as practicable.
As we look towards our future, we know that people are worried—for themselves, for the people they love and for their communities. We have always been honest that we will not be able to protect every job and every business. Nevertheless, this Government have done everything we can to protect our communities through this difficult period. We provided over £7 billion of extra support through our welfare system in 2020-21. We increased local housing allowance rates for universal credit and housing benefit claimants, so that they covered the lowest 30% of local rents, and we will sustain this cash increase this year. We introduced the Covid Winter Grant Scheme, now the Covid local support grant, with almost £270 million to support vulnerable households with the costs of food and other essentials. In 2021-22, we are extending the temporary uplift to the universal credit standard allowance for a further six months, giving working tax credit claimants an equivalent one-off payment of £500, and we have maintained our commitment to older people through a generous basic state pension, now worth over £2,050 more in cash terms than in 2010, thanks to the triple lock.
The Government’s commitment to building back better after the pandemic also means building back greener, and 2021 will be a landmark year for environmental policy. In November, the UK will be hosting the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. With that global leadership position, alongside our new-found independence from EU environmental laws, now is the moment to put a spotlight on this critical work.
The Environment Bill we are bringing forward is a pivotal part of delivering the Government’s manifesto commitment to create the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on Earth. We will legislate to set long-term, legally binding targets to drive environmental improvements such as in air quality, resource efficiency and waste reduction. A new independent office for environmental protection will provide scrutiny and advice, investigate complaints and take legal action where necessary. The Environment Bill will also give new powers to local authorities to tackle air pollution in their areas and make it illegal for large UK companies to use key agricultural commodities cultivated on illegally deforested land.
Twenty twenty-one will also be a monumental year for animal rights, with our recently published Action Plan for Animal Welfare. The plan will set out our intention to recognise animals as sentient beings through the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill. We will strengthen existing enforcement against animal abuse and ban the import and export of endangered animal hunting trophies. We will make further improvements to farm animal welfare in transport and slaughter, and support farmers in sustainable food production. We will also take action to prohibit the unsuitable keeping of primates as pets, raise standards in zoos and conserve animals in the wild. Shortly, we will bring forward a kept animals Bill to tackle puppy smuggling and ban the keeping of primates as pets. Later in the Session, we will bring forward an animals abroad Bill to tackle issues outside the United Kingdom.
Improving our transport infrastructure is a key part of our agenda to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. The Government intend our railways to be the backbone of a modern, affordable and green transport network. We will publish a White Paper with proposals to transform the railways and deliver for passengers, ending the complicated franchising model and creating a simpler, more effective system. We also intend to deliver better bus services for England through our national bus strategy, with more frequent, cheaper and reliable services, integrated services and ticketing, and 4,000 new zero-emission buses.
I believe that Her Majesty’s gracious Speech affirms this Government’s commitments to build back a better future for our country, levelling up opportunities across the United Kingdom; to make every part of our country a great place to live and to start a family, own a home and start a business; and to ensure that no community and no person is left without hope or opportunity. These are ambitions I am sure every part of this House shares. Over the course of today’s debate, my noble friend Lord Goldsmith and I look forward to hearing your Lordships’ valuable insights on the measures I have outlined, especially of course in the maiden speeches of the noble Lords, Lord Coaker and Lord Morse.
The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con)
My Lords, it is an honour to conclude today’s debate on Her Majesty’s gracious Speech—the first since the United Kingdom’s formal exit from the European Union. Before I start, I join noble Lords in paying tribute to the noble Lords, Lord Coaker and Lord Morse, on the delivery of excellent maiden speeches, delivered with great passion and commitment.
The UK has embarked on a period of great possibility and has the opportunity to make headway on the hugely important issues that matter, not just to me and to many noble Lords here today, but for the British people as a whole. My noble friend Lord Greenhalgh outlined an ambitious agenda, raising issues such as building and planning reform, the importance of getting people back into work post lockdown and the Government’s plans to revitalise the nation’s transport network to help the UK to build back better, post pandemic. The noble Lord also detailed the reforms we will make to improve the way our natural world and its animals are treated, which says so much about who we are as a nation.
I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to today’s debate on these important matters. The range of topics has been wide and there have been many contributions, so I will not be able to respond to every noble Lord—indeed it is not physically possible for me to do so. However, I will do my utmost to respond to the key points that were raised. Should any noble Lords seek further assurances, I shall endeavour to write and copy these responses to the Library.
The case for tackling the environmental crisis and biodiversity loss—experienced both here and globally—is patently clear, as many noble Lords have said. However, I am obliged to take issue with a number of comments, particularly those from the noble Lord, Lord Oates, echoed by the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson. They said that the Government are doing nothing, there was nothing in the Bill and we are achieving nothing in relation to climate change and biodiversity. The word “nothing” appeared over and over again, and it is simply not true. That is not a serious observation of where we are. Of course, there is no Government in the world who are doing enough. The gap between where we are and where we need to be is huge, but the idea that this Government are doing nothing is absurd.
We were the first country in the world to commit to net zero in law. We are the only country in the world, at this point, to have begun to take steps to legislate to clean up our supply chains, to get rid of deforestation from our supply chains as 80% of the world’s deforestation is caused by commodities. We are the only country in the world to commit to, and actually begin, the process of shifting our land use subsidies away from destruction towards environmental renewal. If every country in the world did that, we would be well on our way to restoring the abundance of the natural world. We have doubled our international climate finance, the only country to have done so in the last couple of years at least. We will be finished with unabated coal by 2025. We are one of the only countries in the world to stop investing in fossil fuels overseas, and our emissions reductions have been faster than any other country in the G20.
The noble Baroness, Lady Jones, quoted me. Her quote was correct, but it was slightly out of context. I made a comment that we are not doing enough, but the comment was really “we” in a global sense. As I said, the gap between where we are and where we need to be remains huge. All governments need to catch up. That gap is there, and the UK is doing everything it possibly can to encourage the world to join it in closing that gap. She is right to say that President Biden is providing leadership, but the US has an enormous amount of catching up to do. I am not aware of any important, significant step that the US has taken to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss that we have not already taken. Indeed, the US needs to catch up fast with where the United Kingdom is, and most officials in the United States that I have been speaking to in the last few weeks would very readily agree. Yes, we do need leadership; we need leadership all around the world, and I think the UK is providing much of that leadership.
The noble Lords, Lord McNicol and Lord Stunell, both questioned the lack of detail in the Queen’s Speech. My understanding is that the gracious Speech is normally pretty high-level and does not go into the minutiae of how policies are going to be delivered. But what I would say is that the steps outlined in the Speech are just part of a much wider programme. Net zero, for instance, is not covered by the commitments made in the Queen’s Speech. It is affected by them and features throughout many of the areas where we have made significant promises, but net zero goes far beyond the commitments made in the gracious Speech. This is a cross-Whitehall endeavour. Indeed, we are not going to get to net zero without a cross-Whitehall endeavour, and every Minister, every colleague, has a role to play. That is something we are very much aware of. As my noble friend Lord Lansley and the noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, pointed out, we need global action but not all the change needed will require legislation. We need to operate on every conceivable level.
The Environment Bill is an important part of the Government’s response to the clear scientific case and the growing public demand for a step change in environmental protection and recovery. Acting as one of the key vehicles for delivering the bold vision set out in the 25-year environment plan and the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution, the Environment Bill will act as a catalyst for urgent and meaningful action to challenge the environmental crisis we are facing and support the economic recovery from Covid-19. This legislation will deliver radical benefits by setting legally binding targets on biodiversity, air, water quality, resource efficiency, waste reduction and more. Thanks to measures in the Bill, we will have powers to set standards for eco-design and consistency in recycling that will move us towards a more circular economy and lower emissions.
We are setting legally binding targets on levels of fine particulate matter—or PM 2.5—that permeate the air. The noble Baroness, Lady Worthington, stressed the damage to human health this particulate matter can cause. She identified some measures being taken in Spain, such as diesel engine bans and fossil fuel investments being cut back. Actually, it sounded like much of what she proposes is already being done here in the United Kingdom, but I will look further at the policies she identifies. PM 2.5 poses a real risk to the health of the population, and exposure to high concentrations can cause all kinds of health issues and respiratory conditions. While the World Health Organization guidelines on PM 2.5 are not specifically being legislated on, we are gathering the necessary evidence to set targets that best fit the UK’s particular context. This approach is endorsed by the World Health Organization, and this Government will engage in a fully costed analysis before a target is set.
In answer to the noble Duke, the Duke of Wellington, this legislation will also fortify the way our precious water resources are managed through the development of new statutory regimes and regulations that reduce the risk of poor farming practices and the impact of storm overflows on water quality. The Storm Overflows Taskforce was set up in September 2020 to bring together government, the industry, regulators and environmental NGOs to accelerate progress in this area. This is just the next step in a journey that we are committed to seeing through. In direct answer to the noble Duke, we are incorporating Philip Dunne’s Bill as a series of amendments to the Environment Bill.
The urgency to act means that while the Bill has been carried over from the previous Session, the work has continued. This Government have been working with experts to develop our legally binding targets. The draft of the environmental principles policy statement was published and is now out for consultation. Consultations have been launched on the deposit return scheme for drinks containers, extended producer responsibility for packaging and consistent recycling collections.
I assure my noble friend Lord Kirkham that we are going hard on both waste and litter. Indeed, they are a central part of the environment Bill that we will shortly be introducing. The Government appointed Dame Glenys Stacey as chair of the Office for Environmental Protection. We are particularly excited about the challenge being set by this independent public body. The OEP will monitor the way public authorities implement environmental law, unencumbered by ministerial or any political agenda.
In answer to the noble Lord, Lord Browne, the Office for Environmental Protection will work closely alongside our world-leading Committee on Climate Change, and I thank my noble friend Lord Deben and the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Cambridge, for the guidance they have provided in this regard.
I am confident that this Bill will deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to create
“the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth”,
even as we navigate economic recovery. It will help establish the UK as world leaders as we head towards COP 26, taking place in Glasgow this year.
I want to address points made by noble Lords on the Environment Bill before I move on to other areas. The noble Baroness, Lady Boycott, mentioned the importance of food. She rightly suggested that our climate agenda cannot rest on the shoulders of a single food strategy, and of course it does not. We address the issues that she raised in many different regards. I mentioned earlier our legislation to break the link between commodity production and deforestation —a world first—and that is something around which we are now building an international coalition of countries committed to doing the same.
My noble friend Lady McIntosh questioned whether the shift to ELM would prevent inappropriate development, a point echoed by the noble Lord, Lord Curry. The answer is that the principle of ELM is very clear: it will be the provision of public money purely and simply in return for the delivery of public goods. Yes, the definition of “public goods” remains broad, as it should.
The noble Lord, Lord Curry, asked whether our standards would be damaged through imports of low-quality food. We have been very clear that, in our pursuit of free trade agreements, we will not allow our standards here domestically to be undercut.
The noble Lord, Lord Colgrain, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Young and Lady Benjamin, all in one way or another touched on the tree strategy, woodlands and related issues. The answer is that we must use every tool that we have to deliver the hugely ambitious strategy that we are shortly to release in a few days’ time. That involves talking to other departments; I am lobbying colleagues in the Ministry of Defence, asking them to make available some of the land that it does not use—it is one of the biggest landowners in the country—in order to help us to accelerate our plans towards achieving the objective of 30,000 hectares per year by 2025. A number of noble Lords asked about the funding. We have a fund specifically designed to support the tree programme as well as our peat restoration, and that is the nature for climate fund.
To the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, I simply want to say congratulations to his relatives on their rewilding initiatives.
The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bristol, the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, and the noble Earls, Lord Devon and Lord Sandwich, all talked about the importance of global agreements. Clearly, the UK cannot do any of this on its own. We can provide a moral authority through the example that we set, but we can achieve nothing without global targets, agreements and commitments.
The noble Earl, Lord Devon, talked about the importance of forests. He is of course right. Again, the UK can make a difference on our own but not a defining one, so we are building an alliance in the run-up to COP 26 where we hope we will be able to deliver a significant forest moment—a moment where people can afford to invest a bit of hope that perhaps we can turn the tide on deforestation, which continues at the rate of 30 football pitches’ worth of forest every single minute.
The noble Duke, the Duke of Somerset, and the noble Viscount, Lord Hanworth, talked about the tension between the need to keep costs down and the need to reduce carbon, but in fact that conflict is out of date. As we have seen, the cost of solar has collapsed by 90% since the banking crisis. Even under President Trump, who lavished public money on keeping the coal sector alive, coal use declined faster on his watch than under President Obama. The market is moving rapidly ahead of the politics in many respects, and the costs are coming down.
In the interests of time, I am going to move on to another area of Defra’s agenda, and that is animal welfare. The UK has a record that we can be proud of. The UK banned keeping calves in veal crates in 1990, 16 years before the rest of the EU. We banned keeping sows in close-confinement stalls in 1999, we banned conventional battery cages in 2012 and we banned fur farming and foie gras production in the UK. More recently, we required CCTV in all slaughterhouses and banned the use of wild animals in circuses. Our ivory ban is the strongest in the world. I was asked by the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, why it has been delayed; the answer is a combination of Covid and, I am afraid, vested interests taking us to court to try to stop us, but we are very nearly there. Only a fortnight ago, as noble Lords will know, we raised the maximum sentence for animal cruelty offences from six months to five years. We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world, and our plans will build on this record and go further.
Indeed, I believe the action plan for animal welfare that was launched a couple of days ago represents the biggest shake-up of animal welfare standards for generations, and that is something that I think has been acknowledged by pretty much all the animal welfare organisations—certainly the ones that I have been in contact with. Our exit from the EU allows us to do things that simply were not possible before. The plan contains five key strands of focus: recognising animal sentience, supporting international advocacy and enhancing the welfare of farm animals, companion animals and wild animals. As part of the action plan we are going to crack down on puppy smuggling, unscrupulous breeders and pet theft. We will incentivise farmers to have healthier animals on their farms that are kept to higher welfare standards. We are examining the case for ending the use of cages for poultry and farrowing cages for pigs. We are ending the live export of animals for fattening and slaughter, and we are committed to improving the conditions of animals subjected to lengthy journeys.
We are honouring our commitment to end the keeping of primates as pets. We will stop the import of gruesome hunting trophies from endangered animals. We are banning the import of shark fins and low-welfare produce. We will introduce greater protections for British hares and will end the use of excessively cruel implements such as those appalling glue traps.
Beyond our borders, we want holiday firms to cease advertising entertainments abroad that involve extreme cruelty, such as elephant training, and there is a whole range of other measures. The action plan is not exhaustive. I know that there are welfare issues that concern many noble Lords and the wider public. There is always more that we can do, and this Government are always open to pro-welfare reforms. As my noble friend outlined earlier today, our animal welfare strategy will be implemented in law, initially through a kept animals Bill, which will set an example for the treatment of animals in a domestic context.
I turn to communities issues and say to the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of St Albans that our building safety Bill will catalyse a once-in-a-generation improvement to the building safety regime to ensure that tragedies such as Grenfell never happen again. As well as introducing a new, more stringent regime for higher-risk buildings, the Bill will create clearer accountability and duties for those responsible. We will also give residents a stronger voice in the system. The noble Lord, Lord Stunell, asked about timing. I am afraid that I am going to defer to my colleague, who will be in touch with as much information as he can provide. Following expert advice, the Bill takes a risk-based approach, prioritising action on the buildings that face the greatest risk. We are providing direct funding to address unsafe cladding in buildings over 18 metres in height, ensuring that those buildings most at risk will pay nothing. The noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, mentioned the French company that failed to show at the inquiry. All I can say is that its actions speak for themselves. The noble Lord, Lord Jordan, raised important concerns about other dangers associated with buildings, not least unsafe staircases and the consequent falls, usually of elderly people. That is an issue that I know my colleague will also be considering.
We have brought forward a financing scheme to ensure that leaseholders living in buildings between 11 and 18 metres in height will never face costs of more than £50 per month. Again, many will pay nothing at all. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Warwick, that this will protect leaseholders from big remediation bills while also respecting taxpayers’ money. I say to the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, that we are also introducing measures to protect future leaseholders from unreasonable ground rents.
My noble friend Lord Howard raised a number of concerns, citing Berlin, in relation to ground rents and reforms thereof. I know those concerns will have been heard by my colleague, my noble friend Lord Greenhalgh, who will take them away. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Bill, will, however, remove the inconsistency and ambiguity around the issue that have plagued leaseholders for too long.
We are introducing vital reforms to make our planning system fit for the future. The planning reform Bill will leave behind an antiquated and unengaged system. Contrary to concerns raised by the noble Baronesses, Lady Pinnock, Lady Mallalieu and Lady Thornhill, and the noble Lords, Lord Kerslake and Lord Rosser, among others, the Bill will give people a greater role in shaping how their communities will look through their local plans and design codes. It is a localist agenda. It will replace lengthy documents with easy-to-access digital tools and map-based local plans, allowing people to visualise local plans for development and participate in a way fit for the digital age—that was a point made by my noble friend Lord Lansley. It will support every community to produce its own design code, to reflect its own local needs, heritage and identity, putting design and quality at the heart of the planning system.
Throughout these reforms, the Government will prioritise maintaining environmental protections—I say this in response to questions raised by a number of noble Lords, including the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, and the noble Lords, Lord Bilimoria and Lord Shipley. We will identify opportunities for environmental improvement and simplify and improve methods for assessing environmental impacts.
I turn briefly to Department for Work and Pensions matters. Alongside these important reforms, this Government want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive, whoever they are and wherever they live. The Government champion work as the single best route out of poverty and towards financial independence. Pre-pandemic, this approach delivered record levels of employment, supported by a universal credit system which withstood extraordinary challenges, with caseloads doubling in number since March 2020. As we make an economic recovery, through our ambitious £30 billion Plan for Jobs, the Government are creating jobs and supporting people of all ages to move into work or gain the skills that will open up new opportunities.
I recognise that I have not got a chance of answering all the questions that were asked. A very significant number of questions were asked in relation to transport, and I long to be able to answer in more detail about the plans put forward by my colleagues to decarbonise the transport sector—an issue that came up time and again in numerous speeches by noble Lords. Needless to say, the plans are there and my colleague Grant Shapps is particularly enthusiastic about a shift to zero-emission buses and vehicles. I recognise that I will not be able to give any evidence of that in this speech, but I am happy to follow up afterwards.
This is an important gracious Speech, made even more so by its timing. We are at the forefront of the opportunity that the UK’s exit from the EU presents the Government to create a more prosperous, healthy and sustainable future for our people. As a Government, we will continue to put the necessary support in place to ensure that our bold and ambitious vision for the future is achieved and the issues discussed in this debate will play a key part in this process. I thank most sincerely all noble Lords who have taken part in this important debate today for their insightful contributions and dedication to progressing these important matters.