UK Water Companies: Chinese Financial Influence

Debate between Lord Fox and Baroness Hayman of Ullock

Tuesday 15th September 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, the National Security and Investment Act 2021 allows the Government to scrutinise and intervene on certain acquisitions made by companies, including businesses which and investors who could harm our national security. The Act covers 17 sensitive areas in the economy, but although there was much discussion when the Bill was before your Lordships’ House about including critical infrastructure, it was not included in those 17 areas. I thank the noble Lord for bringing this issue up. With what we know today, is it not time to add services such as water to the list so that the Act can be used in full to scrutinise who controls our critical water supply?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I just mentioned, the water sector is in the National Security and Investment Act. That is mainly because of the essential services that it provides for public health and the economy. There are 17 existing sectors in that mandatory notification scheme, including civil nuclear, energy and transport. We are assessing whether proposed acquisitions pose a national security risk. However, the noble Lord makes an important point, so I am happy that we consider the water industry when we review the terms of that Act.

British Farming: Competitiveness

Debate between Lord Fox and Baroness Hayman of Ullock

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, in relation to the latest free trade deal with India, there is every reason to believe that Indian dairy products will be allowed into the UK market without reciprocal rights for British dairy farmers to export their products to India. How can such a deal be done when we are trying to support British farmers?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

On the India deal, we maintained tariffs on several products, including pork, chicken and eggs. That was because we had concerns about animal welfare standards and the potential impact on British farmers. That is what we will do and the position we will take when looking at trade deals with any country.

Biodiversity Net Gain

Debate between Lord Fox and Baroness Hayman of Ullock

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right—corridors for wildlife are incredibly important. Many developments have to give due regard to removing hedgerows, for example, in order that they do not stop routes for wildlife such as dormice. It is extremely important and, on all developments, Defra is working with MHCLG to ensure that the environment is taken into full consideration.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

The Minister has spoken about biodiversity and infrastructure projects. How about marine biodiversity? Can the Minister set out the Government’s position on enhancing the regaining of marine biodiversity?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am sure the noble Lord is aware that restoring marine biodiversity is very complicated. In many ways, it is more complex than restoring biodiversity on land; it is a very challenging subject. Clearly, we need to look at the marine conservation zones to see what they can do, and to work internationally on this because it is a broad international area. The Government are reviewing this at the moment.