Peatland Restoration

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right about the action that has been taken in previous years that has degraded our peatland, including, as he said, the planting of conifers. I will have to write to him on some of the detail on that, but I want to be clear that we see the importance of restoring peatland to its natural state. That way we create a virtuous circle—wet peatlands that are both good for water management but also good for climate change.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his responses so far. Further to the question from across the House on a ban on the sale of peat for horticultural purposes, could I encourage the Minister to talk to his ministerial colleagues to ensure that such legislation is in the forthcoming King’s Speech? Could I also encourage him to talk to Ministers in the devolved Administrations about such a ban in order to protect our precious landscape, which has been scarred for quite a number of years?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for her persistence in pursuing this important matter. She is asking me to undertake a lot of conversations; I like having a chat, so I will see what I can do. I cannot make any commitments about the forthcoming King’s Speech, but I just underline what I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Grender. This is a clear priority for this Government. We have put it in our environmental improvement plan. We understand its importance and, as she said, it is also important that we work with the devolved Governments, so that when we ban something it is banned completely. It will happen, but when parliamentary time allows.