Arm’s-Length Bodies (Accountability to Parliament) Bill

Sarah Smith Excerpts

Friday 14th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sir Christopher Chope]

The hon. Lady tempts me to move on to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Before the hon. Gentleman moves on from Natural England, in my constituency we have got a huge problem with the Whinney Hill tip, which Natural England and the Environment Agency are both heavily involved in. My residents face horrendous issues with gulls, the stink and many other challenges from that tip, but we have been limited in finding an alternative because elected officials need to plan for an alternative waste station. If the Environment Agency had greater teeth, it might have been able to push the issue and find a better solution. Is it not sometimes about having the right powers in place rather than removing quangos altogether?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

That intervention was slightly broad in scope, but it returned at the end.