Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance
Debate between Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Lord Katz
Lord Katz (Lab)
It is worth pointing out that a fair amount of work has been done, particularly by the Environment Agency, to improve community outreach and engage with the kinds of households that the noble Baroness describes. For instance, more than 1.5 million users are signed up to receive EA flood warnings in advance of flood incidents. The Environment Agency provides the online “check for flooding” service, which has recorded 2.2 million users and 30 million page views since September 2024. There is some great work going on around education. Together with Microsoft, the EA has worked in partnership to develop three national award-winning Minecraft game suites designed to teach key stage 3 pupils about flood risk.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for clearly illustrating that the Government are already on top of this subject, but want to encourage him a little further along the way. With changing weather patterns that have resulted in persistent rainfall in winter periods over several years, and droughts now characterising our summer period, can he have discussions with his ministerial colleagues in Defra about a technologically innovative solution involving the storage of this water, which would help promote better land use management and food security?
Lord Katz (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for raising that interesting example. I will certainly go back and talk with colleagues about how we make sure that we adapt to changing environmental factors. We say that local flood risk management planning should follow this sort of adaptive approach over time, which takes account of climate change and other needs, such as demographic change and food security, and ensure that climate change protections are built into the design of new flood defences.
Peatland Restoration
Debate between Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Lord Katz
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.
Plant-based Diet
Debate between Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick and Lord Katz
Lord Katz (Lab)
I am sure that I could fill up the whole of Question Time trying to address all those questions. I thank the noble Baroness for her interest and for the work that she undertook with the committee. Many of the recommendations from that report are being taken forward through the Government’s 10-year health plan. The plan has set out action to tackle the obesity crisis with a broad policy package aimed at improving food environments and ensuring better access for everyone. As regards the school food standards, we are working on this—coming up with standards to define the food and drinks that must be provided to schools and which must be restricted. We are looking particularly at foods that are high in saturated fat, salt and sugar.
I think it is important to respond to the point raised by the noble Baroness concerning the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Members of that committee have a duty to act in the public interest, in accordance with the Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees, and to be independent and professionally impartial. The committee’s code of practice has been updated recently. Individuals are now eligible to be members only if they do not hold significant interests in relation to the food, drink, diet or supplement industries. So we can be assured that they are acting on impartial and independent grounds when they provide the Government with advice.
Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)
One thing that is important is clarity for farmers, and one idea could be to link farm payments to soil health and other good practices, through the SFI. I ask my noble friend the Minister: will the 25-year farming road map still be published this year, and will it be published along with other pieces of work, including the land use strategy?
Lord Katz (Lab)
I thank my noble friend for that question. As she suggests, the farming road map is part of a package of land-based strategies being published by Defra, which will include the food strategy. It will set out what is needed to restore nature, address climate change and support the production of healthy and sustainable food. The land use framework to which she referred will express the land use implications of these objectives and how the Government intend to manage trade-offs between them. The road map itself will describe how the farming sector will be supported to deliver land management and land use changes. I can say that it will be published in due course.
My noble friend mentioned the sustainable farming incentive. This pays farmers and land managers to carry out actions that support the sustainable production of food and boost farm productivity and resilience while protecting and enhancing the environment. I am pleased to say to your Lordships’ House that the SFI now has more than 39,000 multi-year live agreements, and is not only delivering sustainable food production and nature recovery for today and the years ahead but putting money back in farmers’ pockets.