Drought Conditions: England

Debate between Emma Hardy and Lincoln Jopp

Friday 16th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

I can absolutely give that commitment. It is hugely important. It is, frankly, shocking that we have not built a new reservoir in years, developed any new sources of water or looked at desalination. It is an abject failure to prepare and develop the resilience this country needs. I am absolutely determined to change that. The basics of being able to move water more easily around the country and store it when it rains are the least the public expects. It highlights again that they were terribly failed by the previous Government.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

I thank the Minister for her statement. Can I be helpful? I have half of London’s drinking water in my constituency. While some benefits of floating solar are well known—they are twice as efficient as land-based systems and have none of the opportunity costs of putting solar panels on agricultural land—one of the less well-known benefits is that it reduces evaporation by 70%. I did not notice the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in the list of ministries in her taskforce. Will she work further across Government to encourage water companies to install floating solar? Some farmers are doing that where they have planning permission for reservoirs.

[Emma Hardy]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. [Interruption.] I have just seen a good nodding from the Minister for Energy, and he is absolutely right to say that putting floating solar across reservoirs helps with evaporation. I thank him for raising that point, and I am pleased that my colleague also heard it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Emma Hardy and Lincoln Jopp

Thursday 4th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this important issue to the House, and I join him in paying tribute to the Environment Agency, all the emergency responders and everybody who has been working so hard. Public health advice has been issued, including precautionary guidance to avoid contact with potentially contaminated material. The incident is under investigation to assess regulatory compliance and to determine whether enforcement action is required, and I am happy to meet him to see whether it has been dealt with to his satisfaction and whether there is any more help I can give him.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

One of the sources of contamination that the Minister did not mention is human waste being discharged over the side from slum boats on EA land. The EA claims that its statutory obligation is only to register boats on its land when an application is received, and that it is discretionary. It basically does not police slum boats on its land. Will the Minister have a look at this issue and discuss it with the Environment Agency, so that slum boats on EA land can either be registered properly and policed, or moved on?

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point; I would be happy to look at it with the Environment Agency.

Flooding

Debate between Emma Hardy and Lincoln Jopp

Monday 6th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

I share my hon. Friend’s thanks to the Environment Agency. It does an incredible job and was out there working new year’s eve and new year’s day—not celebrating like many of us, but out helping and supporting. I am pleased to hear that positive story from her constituency.

[Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)]

The people of Spelthorne have been holding their breath during this flood season. Obviously, prevention is better than cure. Can the Minister update us on the River Thames scheme and on when a decision about whether it will go ahead and when will be taken?

[Emma Hardy]

I just mentioned in response to the shadow Minister that we should be able to announce which schemes have been successful by next month at the latest. If the hon. Gentleman writes to me with more information, I can give him a more detailed response on the scheme he mentions, but I recognise how important many of the schemes are to so many people.