Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 5th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

4. What advice she has given the Government on the potential impact of removing jury trials on the rule of law.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

8. What advice she has given the Government on the potential impact of removing jury trials on the rule of law.

[The Solicitor General]

In December, the Deputy Prime Minister set out the measures that this Government are taking to tackle the crisis in our courts. As I have stated in the House previously, jury trials will remain the cornerstone of our justice system, but reform and investment are needed to cut through the backlog, which is approaching 80,000 cases. Some 90% of criminal prosecutions are already dealt with by magistrates rather than juries, and juries will remain for the most serious cases.

[The Solicitor General]

In his report, Sir Brian Leveson estimated that introducing these reforms would lead to a 20% time saving. At the moment, we have a situation in which victims of rape are waiting three or sometimes four years for their cases to get to court. Investment in the system is also important, which is why we have the maximum number of sitting days that we have ever seen, investment in criminal defence lawyers, and investment in our courtrooms. Leveson made it clear that investment alone will not tackle the huge backlogs.

[James Wild]

Yesterday, a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges against Palestine Action activists involved in a violent incident in which a police sergeant’s spine was broken when she was struck by a sledge hammer. Does the Solicitor General agree with me and law abiding people across the country—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I understand that this involves sub judice. Can we be very careful about what we are about to say?

[James Wild]

Does the Solicitor General agree that, as the Crown Prosecution Service considers whether to bring a retrial, it should bring a retrial on these serious charges, including assault occasioning grievous bodily harm?

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The idea was not to talk about the particular court case. I think we will leave it at that. [Interruption.] I think the hon. Member is struggling with my ruling. The hon. Member was talking about a court case and asking what is going to happen with it. We should not be questioning the position. We are crossing a line that we do not cross—that is what it is. I can reassure the hon. Member that I did not want to pull him up.

I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I look forward to working with him on this issue. We will look at pre-pipe solutions in the forthcoming White Paper, which I look forward to discussing with him when we publish it.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

7. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of solar farms on food security.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

Only 0.1% of land is used for solar, and half of the agricultural land used for generating solar power is still producing food. Solar farms are not a risk to food security. Instead, they play an important role in diversifying farm income and decarbonising our economy.

[James Wild]

I think the Minister’s answer was a bit tone-deaf. North West Norfolk’s farms and farmers play a vital role in our food security. My constituents are concerned about the Droves and High Grove solar farms, which will cover 7,000 acres. Why are the Government, and the Net Zero Secretary in particular, obsessed with putting solar farms on Norfolk’s agricultural land rather than on brownfield land and rooftops?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

A very small area of land is used by solar farms—as I said before, it is 0.1% of the UK’s total land area. The clean power commitment 2030 will take that up to 0.4%. Our land use framework, which will deal with ensuring that solar farms do not go on prime agricultural land, is due to be published in the early part of next year.

Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 23rd October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Part of the fund and its use is certainly about trying to create a more vibrant and modern fishing industry that is resilient, and part of that must be social resilience. I look forward to any of the views of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents on how the fund could best be used, but we must remember that it is fishing-related, not general; it is there to modernise and make more resilient the UK’s fishing industry.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

When the fishing and coastal growth fund was announced, the Government said that they had also secured a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to slash red tape for UK seafood exporters and businesses. Can the Minister tell the fishing fleet in King’s Lynn, Brancaster and around the Norfolk coast when that deal will actually be implemented?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We are awaiting the EU mandate, which the Commission tells us will be available by the end of November. We are very anxious to then get on to doing the SPS deal as quickly as possible, so that we can tear away all the red tape caused by Brexit. That has caused so much damage and made it so hard for the UK fishing industry to trade with our closest neighbour.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Ben Obese-Jecty (Huntingdon) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking with the Crown Prosecution Service to help ensure the effective functioning of the courts.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking with the Crown Prosecution Service to help ensure the effective functioning of the courts.

[The Solicitor General]

This Government unfortunately inherited a record Crown court backlog, with the human impact felt most severely by victims. Lengthy delays are much too common and victim attrition much too high. The Lord Chancellor has set out swift action to address that, including by increasing the number of Crown court sitting days and increasing magistrates courts’ sentencing powers to take pressure off the Crown courts.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

I remind the hon. Member that the Conservative Sentencing Minister at the time wrote to the Sentencing Council making it clear that they welcomed the new guidance. Equality before the law is core to the application of the rule of law in this country and a foundational principle of our legal and judicial systems. I am sure that colleagues will welcome the fact that the Lord Chancellor met the chair of the Sentencing Council last week, and they had a constructive discussion around the guidelines.

[James Wild]

Justice delayed is justice denied. Will the Solicitor General confirm that the court backlog is rising rather than falling, and can she explain why the Lord Chancellor has not maximised the number of sitting days so that victims of rape and other serious crimes do not have to wait unduly for their cases to be heard?

[The Solicitor General]

The criticism would carry a little more weight were it not for the fact that the Conservatives spent the last 14 years driving up the record court backlog. The root causes of the backlog are a direct result of the Conservatives’ choices. The previous Government closed over 260 court buildings, and the record court backlog now stands at 73,000 cases. As we have said, the human cost of those delays is considerable—victims are waiting years for justice. The Lord Chancellor is taking robust action. She has increased the number of Crown court sitting days, increased magistrate courts’ sentencing powers and asked Sir Brian Leveson to lead an independent review of our criminal courts to look at options for longer-term reform. The previous Government did not act; they drove up the backlog. This Government are taking action.

Flood Preparedness: Norfolk

James Wild Excerpts

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) on securing this debate. My constituency has a magnificent coastline, as well as some of the precious chalk streams that our country is lucky to have, and we face significant flood challenges that need to be addressed. Sadly, with the record-breaking rainfall that we have had, many villages, homes, gardens, streets and businesses across North West Norfolk have felt the awful impact of flooding. Last winter, I helped many constituents in the Burnhams, the Creakes, Pott Row, Roydon, Grimston and many other villages. The high water levels and groundwater levels mean that that risk is here once again.

Dealing with the problem needs better co-ordination. As we have heard, Norfolk county council is the local lead flood authority, but it cannot direct anyone; it does not have the funding. It cannot even require people to co-operate with it or deal with the culverts and riparian issues that my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) mentioned. That means that even when they have the equipment and are ready to step in to do the maintenance work, they cannot do so, for legal reasons. That is why I supported the creation of the Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance, which is doing good work.

I helped to get multi-agency groups set up to deal with some of the issues in the villages that I have named. That has seen investment in dealing with the infiltration and inundation that causes the flooding and the unpleasant consequences. We need more of that investment to deal with the issues, to improve pumping station capacity and to make other improvements, and there is a need for far greater clarity. That is why I will strongly support the Bill that my hon. Friend will be introducing imminently.

We also need to make better use of local knowledge. When I am out with constituents, they understand the way the rivers and the flows go together. That can be very helpful, particularly when the Environment Agency does not have many people on the ground or who understand the catchment. That is something that can be tapped into more broadly.

An area that has not really been touched on is our need to improve the welfare support when things go wrong. I have been to the homes of elderly and vulnerable constituents who have been unable to use their toilets, sinks and showers for many weeks, and all they have been offered is a portaloo at most. That is completely unacceptable. Far better co-ordination is needed. My constituents do not really care who is responsible; they just want people to take responsibility. The Norfolk Strategic Flooding Alliance has put together a working group to look at that, but obviously it is an issue that can be dealt with across the country.

Finally, I want to touch on the importance of coastal flood defences, particularly in the area of my constituency between Snettisham and Heacham, which is made up of a natural shingle bank and stretches of concrete defences. The Environment Agency has begun a review of the Wash East coast management plan, which is there to protect the properties, the holiday homes and the agricultural land, which is very important. I recently met the Environment Agency, because there is concern locally that it says that it does not need to do the periodic recharging project and that, if it did, it would not have the funding or technical capability to do so. We cannot accept the managed decline in this area. We need to hold the line; that should be a common cause. There need to be funding and support for the shoreline management plan for 2025 and beyond.

Fundamentally, these issues are about working together. The inaugural flooding and drought summit in January, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk referred, will provide a forum to do that. I very much hope that the Minister will accept the invitation that I believe has been extended to her to come and hear about Norfolk and the plans that we have to solve these problems.

--- Later in debate ---

[Emma Hardy]

Well, no, because the Government are currently updating a lot of the planning rules for building homes. SUDS, which I mentioned earlier, will ensure that when building new homes, there is not increased flood risk either for the new homes being built or for existing homes in the area. That is why SUDS are so crucial.

Build Back Better should not just be available for people who have Flood Re; rather, it should be available for all insurers or people who are getting insurance. I want to make this mainstream. One of our concerns is that not many people know that they are able to claim this money or how to claim it. There are difficulties around some of the products, but the example that the hon. Member for North Norfolk shared—about why we would put plugs back in a low place when the property will get flooded again—is exactly where the Build Back Better money could be used: to put the plugs into a different place. I am more than happy to give more details on that.

We have mentioned the importance of mapping. I have good news. [Interruption.] Again, Sir Christopher, there is an outbreak of unity. The good news is that fairly soon we will launch something called NaFRA2, which is basically maps for the whole of England that look at the flood risk for all different types of flooding, including, for the first time, surface water flooding—previously, it has just been river and tidal. Importantly, it will look at future flood risk—so not only the risk of flooding right now, but how the flood risk will change according to climate change. That is incredibly important, so watch this space.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato). She has met with me a few times, championing the needs of her constituents, and I know how welcome they will find her consistent lobbying. I hope that she will look at the flooding formula review and how it can impact areas such as Lowestoft or areas that have coastal erosion, and feed back to me on that.

I agree with the hon. Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman) that if there was ever an issue that unites us, it is this—how good to hear that. I am quite interested in having a look at his Bill, and definitely at catchments as well. The independent review will have a look at catchments. It will look more at water quality but, of course, looking at a catchment solution helps with flooding. I will come back to internal drainage boards. I have been promised a culvert named after me if I do something good on this—

[James Wild]

Multiple!

[Emma Hardy]

Sorry, I have been promised multiple culverts. I have two challenges then: I need something named after me and I need to make maintenance sexy. This is indeed a good debate.

My hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Terry Jermy) talked about the importance of drainage boards. I spoke at the Association of Drainage Authorities conference recently, and I was pleased that my hon. Friend mentioned the £50 million we are giving to them. We recognise that they would have been unable to spend the £50 million by April, so we are splitting that money over two years, which is one of the things that the IDBs wanted to pursue. We are also looking at how internal drainage boards are funded—a piece of research is currently looking into that. I agree that they are incredibly important. I was interested to hear about the Welney Flood Watch team, which was a great example of what volunteers can offer and how much they do in this space. A number of Members mentioned the importance of volunteers.

I have not been able to use the speech I wrote, but never mind. I would encourage people to please get in touch with their local area directors from the Environment Agency. If people give their personal phone number, I promise that they will not be spammed, but the agency will get in touch. If there is a flood, it is guaranteed to be at 8 pm on a Friday night, when people have had a glass of wine, so please pass that on and make sure that they can get in touch.

I want to reassure Members about funding. We are investing £2.4 billion over the next two years to improve flood resilience by maintaining as well as repairing and building flood defences—so maintaining is in there too. I reiterate that the Government are committed to delivering the oversight and long-term strategy needed to ensure that flood resilience is effectively delivered.

We have already taken decisive action by allocating additional funding for asset maintenance, as well as £50 million to internal drainage boards and £60 million to eligible farmers. The really good news for farmers is that the money should be arriving in many of their accounts tomorrow. That is a positive message to take away. We are taking the first steps to review the outdated funding formula and creating the new multi-agency flood resilience taskforce. I am afraid I do not have time to speak about the flood resilience taskforce, other than to say that many different agencies are involved in the taskforce to co-ordinate preparation ahead of the winter flood season.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered flood preparedness in Norfolk.

Oral Answers to Questions

James Wild Excerpts

Thursday 14th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises a powerful point. He is right that between 2016-17 and 2023-24 the number of domestic abuse flagged cases received from the police by the CPS dropped by nearly 36%. We are beginning to see a rebound in those figures, but much more needs to be done. We need a whole-system approach to fix the system, and our domestic abuse joint justice plan will ensure that the CPS and police work more closely together to address those delays from the very outset of a case.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

I have been contacted by a constituent who had concerns about how they were treated in a rape case, and about the communication that came from the police and the CPS. What steps is the Solicitor General taking to ensure victims are properly informed all the way through?

[The Solicitor General]

I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I am sorry to hear about that specific case. I am of course happy to make contact directly with any local chief Crown prosecutors to address that case. More generally, victim transformation work is taking place across both police and CPS, such as investment in victim liaison officers to make sure that there is a single point of contact so that victims are supported right the way through the criminal justice process.

Budget: Implications for Farming Communities

James Wild Excerpts

Monday 4th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Gentleman shakes his head but, if he talks to people who know about these issues, they agree with me.

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

Does the Minister accept that agricultural relief was introduced to protect family farms from being broken up, precisely to reflect their role as food producers and custodians of our countryside? Will he rethink this, do what Labour originally promised, and withdraw this proposal?

[Daniel Zeichner]

As a fellow East Anglian MP, the hon. Gentleman will know just how complicated farming is, how much it has changed over the last 30 years, and how much it is likely to change in the future. We have to ensure that farming is in the right place to benefit from the changes that we are seeing globally and nationally and, most importantly, that farming can operate in an environmentally and nature-sensitive way. Without that, we will all be in deep trouble.