Large-scale Waste Crime

Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Sheehan

Wednesday 14th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

We will hear from the Lib Dems next, then from my noble friend.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of your Lordships’ Environment and Climate Change Committee which produced the report on waste crime. On 16 December, the Environment Agency wrote to the committee stating that 749 new illegal waste sites had been found in 2024-25, compared to 427 in the previous year. Clearly, the system is broken, not just failing. Two of the most devastating sites are in Kidlington and in Bickershaw, Wigan. Has work started to clear the Kidlington site? If so, at what cost to the taxpayer? Why is the same priority not applied to the Wigan site, given that it is near houses and a primary school and burned for nine days last July?

UK Energy: Grid Decarbonisation

Debate between Lord Kennedy of Southwark and Baroness Sheehan

Monday 24th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms and Chief Whip (Lord Kennedy of Southwark) (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Lib Dem Benches.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

Does the Minister agree that consumers choosing green electricity as their preferred source of power is a powerful driving force for the increasingly rapid uptake of electric vehicles, for example, given that UK EV sales increased by more than 20% last year? Surely it is far better than relying on fossil fuel generation from unstable regions such as the Middle East and Russia for long-term energy security.