Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Milne and Emma Hardy

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

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

My hon. Friend raises a really important point. I was delighted to meet a number of water abstraction groups— who might not be the WAGs most people think of—to talk about some of the work they are doing as farmers to make farms more resilient. It is a hugely important issue, and just this week, the Minister for Housing and Planning has talked about how we are going to make the rules for farmers creating their own reservoirs simpler and more straightforward, so that we can build resilience. We know what a difficult time farmers have had, with a particularly wet winter and a very dry summer, and we want to do everything we can to help them become more resilient.

[John Milne (Horsham) (LD)]

T3.   Merry Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. In just its first year, biodiversity net gain has helped restore the equivalent of 7,300 football pitches of habitat, leveraged over £320 million of private investment and supported more than 4,400 jobs. However, the Government’s intention to exempt developments under 0.2 hectares risks killing off this new industry just as it is beginning to thrive. This is a major Government U-turn, and the consequences for environmental projects in my constituency will be severe. Will the Minister reconsider?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between John Milne and Emma Hardy

Thursday 19th December 2024 Commons Chamber

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

I would be delighted to work with my hon. Friend on this important issue. The Association of Drainage Authorities is on the flood resilience taskforce, and the statutory instrument will be laid as soon as parliamentary time allows.

[John Milne (Horsham) (LD)]

T2. A farmer in my constituency tells me that even in a good year he is lucky to see much beyond £20,000 in profit. With margins as wafer thin as that, regular farming barely qualifies as investable at all. The risk of losing a huge slice of that farm to inheritance tax at random intervals would not only go to putting this generation out of business, but go a long way towards ensuring that they can never be replaced. Does the Minister agree that this measure—