Thames Water: Oxfordshire

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Wednesday 7th February 2024 Westminster Hall

[Hannah Bardell (in the Chair)]

I will call Layla Moran to move the motion and then the Minister to respond. There will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up, as is the convention for 30-minute debates.

[Layla Moran (Oxford West and Abingdon) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the performance of Thames Water in Oxfordshire.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Bardell. I thank the Minister for being here to listen to my constituents’ concerns.

The River Thames is an integral part of life in Oxfordshire. Whether they are rowing, swimming, punting or walking, Oxfordshire residents love spending time outdoors and around our precious waterways. But our local environment is under threat, thanks in part to the shoddy performance of Thames Water. One constituent described Thames Water as a “disaster of a company”, and I am afraid to say that I completely agree. It dumps sewage in our rivers, fails to unblock drains, fails to fill reservoirs and does not deliver value for money.

It will come as no surprise that I start with the issue of sewage dumping. The statistics speak for themselves: across the network, Thames Water spilled sewage for 6,500 hours in the last nine months of 2023. Right now, sewage is flowing from treatment works at Combe, Church Hanborough, South Leigh, Stanton Harcourt, Standlake, Appleton, Oxford, Kingston Bagpuize, Drayton, Clanfield, Faringdon, Wantage and Didcot. There are 28—I will not go through all of them. It is like this every day. Sewage pollutes our waterways, damages the natural environment, and poses serious health risks to wildlife, pets and humans.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Thursday 19th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow]

I agree with my hon. Friend.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

11. What recent assessment she has made of the impact of inflation on the affordability of food.

[The Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries (Mark Spencer)]

In September 2023, the consumer price index was at 12.2%, down from 14.8% in July. Industry analysis expects that food price inflation will continue to decrease over the remainder of 2023. The Government are providing an average of £3,300 per household to support them with the cost of living this year and next.

[Hannah Bardell]

The West Lothian food bank in my Livingston constituency does an incredible job, just like food banks across the UK, but the reality is that it should not even have to exist. Folk are struggling more than ever, which is why the SNP has called on the UK Government to control supermarket price gouging, amid record profiteering, by introducing a price cap on staples such as bread and milk. Will the Minister help all our constituents by getting on with doing that?

[Mark Spencer]

If the hon. Lady compares the price of a shopping basket around Europe with the price here in the UK, she will see that the free market is doing a lot of work to suppress food inflation. We have a cheaper food basket than they have in France and Germany. She is, in effect, advocating communism. She should look at how that works around the world. Controlling those markets does not work.

Disposable Barbecues

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Wednesday 30th March 2022 Westminster Hall

[Hannah Bardell (in the Chair)]

Before I call Holly Lynch to move the motion, I inform Members that we are due to have a vote at 5.10 pm. If you do not want an interruption partway through the debate, you might want to take that into consideration, but we will be very happy to come back if there is still more to be said.

[Holly Lynch (Halifax) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the potential merits of banning disposable barbecues.

I very much hear what you have said, Ms Bardell, and it is my sincere pleasure to see you in the Chair.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has already attended 75 wildfires this year, and those are just the fires that fulfil the criteria set out in the national operational guidance. To meet the criteria, the fires will all have involved a geographical area of at least 1 hectare, had a sustained flame length of more than 1.5 metres, required a committed resource of at least four fire and rescue appliances, and presented a serious threat to life, the environment, property and infrastructure. In addition, hundreds of incidents of smaller fires on our moorland that have fortunately been stopped either by early firefighting actions or by weather conditions. From the very outset, we can see the scale of the challenge that we face in West Yorkshire alone, and I am really pleased that colleagues from other parts of West Yorkshire have joined us for this debate.

There were two moor fires at Marsden moor only last week. Six fire crews had to battle against two enormous raging fires, both of which were a mile long. Several others have also made the headlines in recent weeks, and although the stats are for wildfires more generally, we know that a significant number are caused by careless and reckless use of disposable barbecues on our moorland.

During the space of a single weekend on 26 and 27 February, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had to respond to a fire caused by a barbecue that had been lit by a group in a campervan next to moorland on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield. The service also attended a fire caused by a barbecue on New Hey Road in Scammonden, and a third barbecue incident at Brun Clough car park. On 3 March, firefighters had to tackle a 538-square-foot blaze at Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate. The National Trust said that “precious moorland heather habitat” had been destroyed and issued a reminder that barbecues should not be used in the area.

We know that this a problem, and there are a number of reasons why our moorland is so precious and cannot continue to sustain this amount of damage. In Calderdale, I am afraid to say that managing flood risk is an ongoing and constant challenge. It was hit by devastating floods on Boxing day 2015 and during the 2020 February floods, with several incidents and near misses in between. Moorland fires substantially undermine the natural flood management that we need as a key part of our defences.

Nearly a quarter of England’s blanket bog habitat is located in Yorkshire, with about 50% of the country’s peatlands in the Pennines, so we feel the responsibility as custodians of the precious moorland and peatbogs, which also provide crucial carbon storage. That is an essential tool in the fight against climate change, but if the peatland is damaged by fire, it not only loses the ability to store carbon but starts to emit it, which why it is so crucial that we look after our moorland and work to restore it when it is damaged. Moorland also provides natural habitats and enhances biodiversity, with the suffering inflicted on wildlife as a consequence of such fires being one of the greatest tragedies of this problem.

The fires also put a tremendous strain on our emergency services. Although working out the cost for responding to such fires is not easy, the burden that falls on councils, the police, the Environment Agency, organisations such as the National Trust and, most of all, the fire service is enormous. After years of austerity, the frontline is already stretched to breaking point, and I was staggered to learn that fire and rescue services, which have to pull in national firefighting resources or support from neighbouring services in order to fight some of these massive moorland fires, can be expected to pick up the bill for having no choice but to call in those additional resources. I hope the Minister will work on that with her colleagues in other Departments; perhaps she could refer to it in her summing up.

I have set out the scale of the problem and it is clear that we could and should do more to prevent moorland fires. I appreciate that banning the sale of disposable barbecues sounds like a big step, and I fully accept that many users of disposable barbecues use them responsibly. However, I have been clear in outlining the scale of the problem and the devastation it causes, which warrants consideration of all the ways in which we can manage the risk, up to and including a ban on the sale of disposable barbecues. Indeed, ultimately those responsible users also have to pick up the cost of the response.

To further make the point, between 2019 and 2020 alone, 240 accidental fires in England were caused by barbecues, and those are just the fires where the source was identified. Therefore, we know that introducing a ban on disposable barbecues would start to bring down the number of moorland fires by hundreds every year.

Currently, the toolkit used by local authorities and the emergency services to prevent moorland fires is not robust enough. Sections 59 to 75 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 allow for council officers and the police to implement a public spaces protection order. A PSPO is designed to deal with a particular nuisance or problem in a specific area by imposing conditions on the use of that area.

In Calderdale, people are prohibited from lighting fires, barbecues or Chinese lanterns, and from using any article or object that causes a naked flame and which poses a risk of fire in certain restricted areas. Best practice is encouraged and people are still allowed to enjoy picnics on moorlands, as long as they do not use cooking equipment that requires a naked flame or that presents a risk of fire. Calderdale Council also runs a Be Moor Aware campaign with emergency service partners, which calls on the public to be vigilant and responsible when enjoying our great countryside. The existing available powers are being deployed and agencies are being proactive, but the fires persist. So, what else can be done?

I commend the many large businesses and retailers that are taking steps to end the sale of disposable barbecues. People might think that the lobby against a ban would come from retailers, who stand to lose out on sales, but when those retailers are themselves leading the way, we know that the situation requires the Government to play catch-up.

Last June, the Co-op stopped the sale of instant barbecues from UK stores within a mile radius of a national park. This month, Aldi became the first supermarket to remove disposable barbecues from sale in all stores. In addition to the benefits that I have outlined, Aldi estimates that that will eliminate 35 tonnes of single-use plastic every year. Waitrose has also just committed to ending the sale of all disposable barbecues and to removing them from all of its 331 supermarkets. It estimates that that will prevent the sale of about 70,000 disposable barbecues every year.

It is incredibly welcome that these major national retailers are taking steps to end the sale of disposable barbecues, and I certainly applaud them for doing so. It is unequivocally clear that they are the real trailblazers, with Government proving too slow to respond to the scale of the problem, the damage caused and the cost to communities.

We are only in early spring and, as I have said, this debate follows two significant fires this week alone, in addition to the 75 official wildfires, and hundreds of others, in West Yorkshire this year. I ask the Government to introduce robust measures that will protect our countryside. A ban would have an instant and transformative effect in protecting our moorland and would help to safeguard them and our communities in the years ahead.

Before closing, I pay tribute to all the emergency service workers and partner agencies involved in the response to the recent wildfires in West Yorkshire. In particular, I place on the record my thanks to Calderdale District Commander Laura Boocock and deputy Chief Fire Officer Dave Walton for giving their time and insight on the challenges they face on the frontline of this very serious problem.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Commons Chamber

The hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, was asked—

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

With reference to the July 2019 recommendations of Gemma White QC on tackling the isolation of House staff, what plans the Commission has to implement those recommendations while staff are working from home during the covid-19 outbreak.

[Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) [V]]

Good day to you, Mr Speaker. In February this year, the House of Commons Commission agreed to establish the Member Services Team, which will deliver the recommendations of Gemma White QC, including on the isolation felt by MPs’ staff. I understand that the team is already working with Members’ staff to see how their ideas for greater mental health support can be delivered. The MST is also currently recruiting two MPs’ staff advisers to tackle the issues raised around isolation.

[Hannah Bardell [V]]

I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. I know, Mr Speaker, that you are well aware of the excellent cross-party work that members of my team —Stephanie McTighe and Chloe Mclellan—have done on the issue of staff wellness and support, including by giving vital evidence to the board of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. The Gemma White report highlighted that constituency staff often deal with vulnerable constituents, many of whom can be suicidal and in deep distress. Those existing challenges are now compounded by the fact that staff are working from home. Will my hon. Friend meet my team and I to discuss their work and how staff wellbeing can be made a priority, and to ensure that the Commission does all it can to support staff in our constituencies so that we can continue to serve our constituents in a safe and supportive way?

[Pete Wishart]

I thank my hon. Friend very sincerely and commend her for the work she has been doing across the House. I also thank her staff, who have inputted greatly into the work on this terrain. I draw attention to the fact that £4,000 has been made available from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority to help with those very issues, and I encourage her to use that resource as much as possible to ensure that her staff are assisted. The employee assistance programme is already available to MPs’ staff for counselling and support. I encourage all Members from across the House to access those services and that resource, and do everything possible to ensure that their staff are kept safe and secure.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Thursday 17th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

10. What steps he is taking to maintain food and drink standards after the UK leaves the EU.

[The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (George Eustice)]

As we leave the EU under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, retained EU law will ensure that we maintain our existing food and drinks standards.

[Hannah Bardell]

The Secretary of State has previously been reported as promising a genetic food revolution in the new year. In a statement, the National Farmers Union warned in the strongest possible terms against any lowering of food standards post Brexit. Will the Secretary of State or the Minister now put an end to this uncertainty, which the Secretary of State created? Will he accept an amendment to the Agriculture Bill to ensure that the standards of our high-quality produce are never lowered or diluted?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I see that the hon. Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) is now scampering into the Chamber. He will have to catch his breath. The fella’s missed his question—dear oh dear! Anyway, it is better later than never. It is good to see the chappie, and I am glad that he is in good health.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Coffey]

It really matters that we work with local authorities to make sure that we improve air quality as quickly as possible. There are broader issues with particulate matter and similar, but we are still behind on nitrogen dioxide. The Greater Manchester area is late in presenting its plan to the Department, and we are continuing to work with it. Where there are those sorts of measures—not a congestion zone but a charging zone for more polluting vehicles—we will work on, and try to fund in the best way we can, the measures needed to mitigate that.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

T3. Paterson Arran Ltd is a major, important employer in my constituency, and arguably produces the best shortbread in the world. It has written to me raising serious concerns about the impact of a no-deal Brexit. It imports a significant number of commodities, and its business would be seriously damaged by a no-deal Brexit. Will the Minister and the Cabinet now take a no-deal Brexit off the table, extend article 50, and take the vote to the people?

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

As I have said in reply to earlier questions, we are working very hard to ensure that there is a deal. We want to work with all parties to do that. I was impressed when I met businesses in Scotland with the Food and Drink Federation Scotland. We need to take these steps, and I understand where the company is coming from on those issues.

Coastal Erosion

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Tuesday 12th June 2018 Westminster Hall

[Kirstene Hair]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The Scottish Government have put such scathing cuts on all our local authorities—indeed, Angus has taken one of the biggest hits—that there is no way they can expect them to fund millions of pounds to secure our coastlines. I agree that they need to take further action.

Erosion is a pressing issue in my constituency, as in many other areas of the United Kingdom. Like most of Scotland’s east coast, Angus has experienced a large increase in erosion since the 1970s. Hon. Members know that they have a big rural issue when “Countryfile” pitches up in their constituency. The BBC recently covered the incredible acceleration of Montrose’s erosion in a piece that alarmed viewers across the United Kingdom.

Montrose is one of the largest towns in my constituency, with a population of about 13,000, and it is particularly threatened. The Montrose golf links, one of the oldest golf courses in the world, is literally being washed away hole by hole, green by green. That vital part of Montrose’s local economy—a piece of history that has survived for 456 years—is slipping away before our eyes.

The course loses 1.5 metres of land to sea every year. The second, third and sixth holes have already had to move since last summer. That cannot go on forever—it probably cannot even go on for another decade. At this rate, the links will run out of space at some point and will have to relocate entirely. Action is needed to save this historic and beautiful course, which is economically important and a valuable piece of Angus’ cultural and sporting history, for future generations. In 1999, GlaxoSmithKline invested in rock armour for a stretch of the coastline, for which the local area was incredibly grateful, but we cannot continue to lean on private businesses for that type of infrastructure, which costs millions of pounds.

In Montrose, we also have the booming port authority along the shoreline, which is already feeling the financial strain of coastal erosion. It was previously dredging 60,000 tonnes of sand per annum, which has now reached 150,000 tonnes—a marked change in five years.

The flooding aspect of erosion can often be overlooked, but it remains a real threat in Angus. We know the economic, cultural and personal damage that flooding can do to a community, if we think back to the flooding that we saw wreak havoc across Scotland in early 2016. The disruption, the clean-up operation, the rebuilding of infrastructure, the reconstruction of defences and the insurance claims all came at huge cost to the local and wider economies. Failure to act and invest in proper defences for coastal communities is not only wrong; it is a false economy.

I am glad that, since 2010, the UK Government have spent £3.2 billion on flood and coastal erosion risk management, as opposed to £2.7 billion in the five years before that, which is a real-terms increase of 8%. Those figures show that there is action from the Government, not just words. That is the sort of long-term, real-terms increase that we need if we are successfully to tackle coastal erosion. I hope that the UK Government will not only maintain but redouble their commitment in this area, and that the Minister will provide more clarity on that.

The Government also need to work with local authorities, the Environment Agency and others to ensure that the approach to erosion is well funded, proactive and, most importantly, ambitious. We need constantly to look 10, 20 or 30 years ahead with a long-term strategy, as opposed to short-term fixes that do not serve our communities.

Sadly, I have found the Scottish Government lacking in ambition in this area. Their enthusiasm for centralisation is renowned, but in this instance, it has left the local authority, Angus Council, with fewer resources and more responsibility. Unlike England, the funding model means that Scottish local authorities receive no dedicated funding, and coastal defences must come at local authorities’ expense. At a time when Angus Council has been forced to find budget savings of a staggering £40 million by 2021—one of the largest cuts to any local authority across Scotland—it simply cannot take any more financial strain from the Scottish Government, if we want to ensure that our frontline services remain in place.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate, but I have to take issue with some of what she says. The council in her constituency is Tory run and it has not used the full amount of money allocated to it for coastal erosion by the Scottish Government. Billions of pounds are being cut from the Scottish Government’s budget by her Tory colleagues. Perhaps she will address those issues.

[Kirstene Hair]

The Scottish Government funding—I will come on to that in a little more detail later—goes nowhere near far enough towards trying to address the problem in Angus. In fact, there have been numerous letters to the Cabinet Secretary, who is the hon. Lady’s colleague, to suggest that we need more funding in Angus, but the responses have been filled with empty words.

The fund that the Cabinet Secretary announced was the same old Scottish National party announcement—an all-singing, all-dancing fund—but the Scottish Government have not detailed the amount of money in the fund, nor have they detailed how Angus can benefit from it. However, I will indeed go into that matter in more detail later.

Significant dedicated erosion funding must be put in place, such as the UK Government’s flood and coastal erosion risk management schemes in England. The issue is important and specific enough not to have been put under the umbrella of flood risk management. At a time when the Scottish Government should be looking at ways to boost Scotland’s poor economic growth rate—I say that on the basis of their appalling current record—they should be doing all they can to protect the economic potential of coastal Scotland from slipping beneath the waves.

--- Later in debate ---

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir David. I congratulate the hon. Member for Angus (Kirstene Hair) on securing this debate, despite her tone at times and some of the substance, with which I did not agree.

Members may question why the Member for Livingston is taking part in a debate on coastal erosion. I do not have any coastline in my constituency, but I spent six years of my professional life in the north-east of Scotland in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen, and I saw the impact of coastal erosion on that area. I worked for Alex Salmond, the former Member for Gordon and for Banff and Buchan. One of the first things I dealt with in my time as his office manager was the flooding in Pennan and the impact it had on that community. I spent most of the three years working for him in the community, working with the families there.

I will never forget the experience of going into the house of an elderly gentleman who lived there—many of the homes in Pennan are second homes; only a small number live in that very important community—and convincing him to leave because the back windows had dirt coming in and he was at risk of being crushed if he stayed in his own home. As the hon. Member for Angus mentioned, there are challenges in dealing with insurance companies.

There is no doubt that we have significant challenges in coastal erosion the length and breadth of Scotland and beyond, and it is vital that all the Governments of the UK work together. I want to set the record straight on what the Scottish Government have done. I hope the hon. Lady will be aware of the £42 million a year that the Scottish Government have made available via the capital settlement since 2008—that is, £420 million—to enable local authorities to invest in flood prevention and coastal erosion works. That is backed up by some of the things that my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen North (Kirsty Blackman) will mention, such as the marine protection monitoring and Scotland’s “Dynamic Coast” national coastal change assessments, which are being taken forward with various academic institutes across Scotland. As the hon. Member for Angus rightly said, we have to ensure the academic community are included.

I am a surfer. I took it up when I spent time in the north-east of Scotland, and having surfed various coasts in Scotland and around the UK, I have seen the impact that coastal erosion has on those communities and the surfing environment. The mudslides that I saw in Pennan during my time working in the north-east of Scotland showed me how complex and difficult some of the issues are; in many cases, there are no simple fixes, or indeed fast fixes. The hon. Member for Angus talked about the speed at which some of these issues need to be dealt with. I agree with her in many respects, but, given the geography of her constituency and the impact that it has had, she will appreciate that sometimes the issues are not dealt with as quickly as we would like. They can be very complex. I remember various discussions with Aberdeenshire Council about whether it was going to put the rocks in casings or pin them back. A significant geological survey often needs to take place, and that can be complex and difficult.

The hon. Lady is a great champion of her own constituency, and I have no doubt she will take her case to the Scottish Government as well. I hope that we can work together and not get ourselves into an overtly party political, partisan debate. As we go through the Brexit process, environment policy and the funding that will be available for our Government and for the UK Government will be significantly impacted. We have yet to know the real impact.

I want to draw attention to the marine protected area monitoring strategy, which allows fishermen to support the monitoring and surveying of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable marine habitats and ensure that detailed information is collected from the MPA network to create a more accurate picture of the health of marine environments. The Scottish Government ensured that we engaged as broadly as we possibly could and that those at the forefront of the issues of coastal erosion are those who are monitoring it and reporting back.

Of the areas around Scotland that have been eroded, 40 metres to 60 metres of beach have eroded since the 1980s, and that rate will continue over the next 30 years. That is a significant challenge to a country that has one of the biggest coastal areas in Europe. Our SNP Government in Scotland are committed to taking on those challenges. I hope that the UK Government will work with our colleagues in Scotland and that, as we go through the process of Brexit, issues such as coastal erosion and protecting the environment will not be lost in the noise coming from that debate.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Thursday 8th March 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

The Government are, of course, still seeking a trade deal, but the hon. Gentleman should also be aware of the fact that countries such as Norway and Iceland, which are independent states, have control of their waters and grant access to them. There are annual negotiations for shared stocks, and we will continue to be part of those negotiations.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

8. What steps he is taking to support the economic viability of farming after the UK leaves the EU.

[The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (George Eustice)]

Leaving the European Union provides the UK with an opportunity to improve the profitability of the agriculture sector. In our consultation document, we set out an approach to support that objective, and we are seeking the views of the industry on a range of measures to improve the competiveness of the farming sector.

Since it is International Women’s Day, may I take this opportunity to congratulate Minette Batters, who has recently become the first ever woman president of the National Farmers Union?

[Hannah Bardell]

I join the Minister in that sentiment.

Brexit is by far the greatest threat to Scottish farming. Given that Scotland has proportionately higher rates of common agricultural policy funding than elsewhere and that the types of farming that can take place in Scotland are very specific, will the Minister commit here and now to making sure that no subsidies to Scotland are cut after Brexit?

[George Eustice]

The hon. Lady will be aware of our intention that agricultural policy and the design of individual schemes will be very much a matter for the devolved Administrations. I look forward to seeing some of the proposals and suggestions that may come from the Scottish Government. We have offered to share our proposals with them so that they can learn from some of our analysis.

Air Quality

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

My hon. Friend will be aware that the Government are working together to try to improve air quality. He will recognise that air pollution has already improved significantly since 2010. That is why we are working with local authorities to devise local solutions to make this happen. He mentions Scotland. Yes, the Scottish Government are also working on the introduction of a low emissions zone, but I can assure him that the situation in Glasgow is very serious, and I am sure that the Scottish Government, with the support of SNP MPs, will work to ensure they have effective solutions for their citizens, too.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

With three High Court cases lost, how critical does this situation need to get before the Government act? I appreciate the Minister’s words, and she mentioned Scotland, where all local authorities with air quality management areas now have action plans. We have set more stringent air quality targets than the rest of the UK and are the first country in Europe to legislate for particulate matter 2.5—a pollutant of special concern for human health. Perhaps I can help her out and meet her, because she will know the work that I have been doing on the aviation noise authority and making sure that it is independent. I wonder whether she would consider ensuring that pollution is taken into consideration and is part of its remit. In my Livingston constituency, I have set up a local noise authority, which ensures that the community can engage meaningfully with airports, airlines and government. Will she commit to ensuring that the aviation noise authority is truly independent and that the monitoring and management of pollution is also within its remit?

[Mr Speaker]

The hon. Lady now has the opportunity to breathe, and I am sure that she will find it a most welcome opportunity.

Oral Answers to Questions

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Thursday 26th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

3. What estimate the Commission has made of the cost of introducing electronic voting in the Chamber.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

10. What estimate the Commission has made of the cost of introducing electronic voting in the Chamber.

[Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)]

The Commission has given no formal consideration to the cost of introducing electronic voting. Its responsibility is limited to any financial or staffing implications of any change in the present system, were a change to be agreed by the House. Such a change would normally follow a report by the Procedure Committee, which would, I am sure, welcome representations from the hon. Member for Glenrothes (Peter Grant) and his hon. Friends.

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[Tom Brake]

I suspect that we have not yet reached the stage of deciding whether the provision of toilets will be needed for a contingency Chamber, or, indeed, establishing whether any financial assessment has been made of the installation of electronic voting. According to figures produced in past debates, however, it appears that the cost might be up to £500,000.

[Hannah Bardell]

In the Scottish Parliament, where there is a seat for every Member and voting takes two seconds rather than 20 minutes, electronic voting is very effective. Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that in this Chamber there were more than 500 votes between 2012 and 2014, which took up more than seven days? Given what is coming down the line with Brexit, does he not think that this is a perfect time to install electronic voting in the House of Commons?

[Tom Brake]

I am aware that electronic voting takes place in the Scottish Parliament, and my personal view is that it is a more effective way of dealing with votes. Members who have not been here as long as I have may not remember that back in 1997 there was an attempt to reform a number of ways in which the House operated. I supported it, but it was blocked by the House.

Neonicotinoids on Crops

Hannah Bardell Excerpts

Monday 7th December 2015 Westminster Hall

[Danny Kinahan]

I certainly agree. I know that both a rural and urban approach are needed, and there are ways of doing that. If we consider what we know today, we can make decisions and move things forward.

I was keen, as a new boy in this place, to set up an all-party group on bees, so I am fascinated to hear that that has been done. I knew very little about the subject, so I started exploring it. When I went to one of its events in September, people from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said to me, “Please don’t just go on bees alone; go on all pollinators—the butterflies and everything else. Fine, call it the ‘all-party group on bees’, but we should be looking after all the different insects involved in pollination.”

I had never heard of the solitary bee; what intrigues me about it is that it apparently covers itself in an oil so that it can hide in damp ground. I come from Northern Ireland, where we have lots of damp ground, particularly at the moment, so I imagine we have plenty of solitary bees. The more I got involved in this issue, the more I realised there was to learn.

It has been mentioned today that we have lost 20 species of bee. Let us all learn from that. We need a system that teaches everybody, so that we are all learning about this—children in schools, parents and people in later life, in clubs and in community groups. Let us get everybody involved and learning. That might mean getting councils to use more of their land for beehives and planting the right plants, perhaps at roundabouts and in verges. There are plenty of places we can use.

[Hannah Bardell (Livingston) (SNP)]

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that a key part of this debate is food security and food supply? In Scotland, crop pollination by bees and other insects is of particular importance for oilseed rape, tomatoes and strawberries, which we hold dear. On the matter of engagement and education, would he join me in congratulating organisations such as the West Lothian Beekeepers Association in my constituency, which does its best to support beekeeping at a grassroots level?

[Danny Kinahan]

I certainly congratulate the West Lothian Beekeepers Association. I know there are many such organisations. In Northern Ireland, we have a huge apple-growing, cider-making county in County Armagh, so we know the importance of pollinators.

The petition hardly touched Northern Ireland. I did not have more emails about bees than about Syria over the weekend, but it was pretty close. There is massive interest in the bees issue, but sadly not many people knew about the petition. All of us—including Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland—need to work together and learn from one another. There is an all-Ireland strategy; we need to learn from that, and I need to find out more about it.

We need to look at all the other things that affect bees, right the way through to the husbandry and how we all work. I would like to see the all-party group up and running, with us all being part of it, and the Minister using it as a way to sound people out and hear different concerns and ideas. That is the way forward. This is a wonderful thing to be part of. It is nice to have something from Northern Ireland that is not orange or green; if I can make a really bad joke, we did have B Specials, but they are extinct.