Water White Paper Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Stephen Phillips
Main Page: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)Department Debates - View all Stephen Phillips's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(12 years, 5 months ago)
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Richard Benyon
I have the highest respect for the Environment Agency. The people who work there are true professionals and are absolutely committed. I have had no indication from them that they are unable to deal with water quality issues, as described by the hon. Gentleman. I agree with him that the main river flowing through our capital city is in a disgraceful state. Not only should it be our ambition to see it cleaner, but we have to comply with international treaties. It behoves us to take the tough decision to restore its quality. However, that will not happen with the exclusion of other rivers that are also suffering quality problems.
Stephen Phillips (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
Lincolnshire, where my constituency sits, is one of the driest counties in the country, somewhat counter-intuitively. Water is therefore of great importance to my constituents and in particular to those who farm. Will the Minister assure the House that there are no proposals in the White Paper that will adversely affect the farming industry?
Richard Benyon
One of the core principles that motivates us in DEFRA is food security. We are deeply indebted to the farming community for the innovation that it has shown and for its ability to cope with changing weather patterns, while continuing to produce quality food. During the drought last year, we engaged with abstractors, many of them from the farming community. We found that the Government have many tools at hand to deal with the problems now. There was some very innovative work by the Environment Agency, the National Farmers Union and other organisations on that. The White Paper addresses the urgent and available methods, but also considers a new, changeable abstraction scheme for the long term that encourages farmers to continue to produce food.