Oral Answers to Questions

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

We have said that we will use existing powers to create clean-up squads, which will force the waste criminals to clear up their mess. It is a little rich of the Conservative party, after 14 years of failure, to attack us after just 10 months in government. We have said that we are changing the carriers, brokers and dealers regime to tighten up arrangements relating to who can carry and transport waste, because the Conservatives left us a paper-based system that is open to fraud.

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to improve young people’s access to nature for outdoor activities.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mary Creagh)]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is a distinguished mountaineer and mountain guide, for his personal courage and bravery in climbing various very tall mountains, and for championing access to the outdoors. The Government are introducing the national youth guarantee and investing £1.5 million in bursaries to help disadvantaged young people to access the great outdoors. We cannot love what we do not know, so we are delighted to be introducing the new natural history GCSE, in order to build on the UK’s unrivalled history and research in this area.

[Andy MacNae]

I thank the Minister for acknowledging the power of the outdoors. I should say that I have failed to climb many more mountains than I ever actually got up. Many of the lessons I learned in the mountains are the reason why I am here today. The power of the outdoors in building confidence and resilience among young people is enormous. I am so pleased that 244 young people in Rossendale and Darwen are, right now, taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme; that is fantastic. For many, discovering the power of nature can be life-changing. Nationally, the evidence of the benefits of outdoor recreation is extensive and unarguable, yet for too many, access to the outdoors remains limited, and 20 million people do not live within 15 minutes of green and blue space. Do the Secretary of State and the Minister agree that a key ambition of access legislation must be access for all?

[Mary Creagh]

The Government are absolutely committed to extending access, which is why we have committed to creating nine new national river walks and three national forests, the first of which is the Western forest, which I had the pleasure of planting a tree in a couple of months ago. We are also designating Wainwright’s coast-to-coast walk as a national trail. My hon. Friend is right about the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, which my daughter will be taking part in this summer. We support the award, which aims to reach a quarter of a million more young people by next year.