Speeches by Hardy.

“I congratulate my hon. Friend and her council on the work that they are doing to deal with illegal waste. On fly-tipping, there are all the measures that I mentioned in my response to the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Dr Hudson), and we have also made an announcement about crushing vehicles. We are carrying out a revi…”

“My hon. Friend raises an important issue. I am sorry to hear that there will not be a prosecution. She might want to write to the nature Minister with more details and information, as perhaps we could look at that in more detail than we have.”

“As I understand it, all waste incinerators are tightly permitted. If there are problems with permitting or if the right hon. Member believes that permits are being broken, I encourage him to contact the local Environment Agency office so that it can be urgently investigated.”

“I agree about the appalling state in which fly-tippers leave our environment. We are looking at reviewing council powers to seize and crush the vehicles of fly-tippers. We want councils to work more closely with the police, and to use the latest technology. We will be providing more guidance on what they can do, but I …”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right. One of the ways to tackle this is to go after the criminals with all the legal powers we have. The legal powers we have in this particular case could include an unlimited fine.”

“I absolutely agree that waste criminals should face the full force of the law and be punished and fined for their activities.”

“The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. On sharing best practice, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is chairing the national fly-tipping prevention group. It includes representatives from a number of councils, the Environment Agency and the National Crime Agency. They share good practice, loo…”

“As part of our record £10.5 billion flood defences programme, the largest in history, the Environment Agency is progressing multiple schemes to improve resilience to flooding locally. These include natural flood management projects for Blue Lagoon, Buckingham and Leckhampstead, a property flood resilience study for Buc…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important issue. I share his concern about the ability of local businesses to recover from flood events. The Government are investing £10.5 billion to better protect 900,000 properties around the country. The flood resilience taskforce will look into what more can be done to supp…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising such an important issue. I share his anger at this appalling pollution incident. The studies into exactly where the plastic pellets might end up are ongoing, but I would be more than happy to keep him up to date so that he knows what is expected to happen and when. The immed…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his important question. I recognise that, at this time of the year, there is anxiety about flooding, and I thank him and the Flood Action 4 Buckingham group for their work. He will be pleased to know that our flood funding policy reforms, announced in October, will make it quicker and easier …”

“My hon. Friend raises a really important issue, and I know how deeply felt the loss is in his constituency. I hope he recognises how seriously I am taking this. Of course, I will do everything I can to support him with this.”

“The hon. Gentleman raises a really important issue. He will know that there is live enforcement action ongoing, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on specific details, but if he wants to have a private conversation, I would be happy to arrange one.”

“My hon. Friend is an incredible champion for her constituency. I have heard that people visiting the area can pick up fossils and see what an ecological wonder it is. It looks incredibly beautiful. We know that access to water is important to boosting wellbeing and mental health. I look forward to hearing more about th…”

“This Government are taking action to ensure that coastal towns have access to clean bathing water. The Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 provides the most significant increase in enforcement powers to the regulators in a decade, empowering them to take tougher action against those responsible for water pollution.”

“I thank my hon. and learned Friend for the kind offer, although I might not take him up on an outdoor swim in November or December. This is a really important issue. We have pledged to halve sewage pollution by 2030 and bathing water sites are being prioritised for upgrades because we recognise how important they are f…”

“I am delighted to join my hon. Friend in thanking all the local groups and children. As has been mentioned, children are hugely interested in this topic, and in the disgusting stories about what ends up down the toilet—I find young children are particularly fascinated with that. I heard an amusing story about a mattres…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I welcome the chance to set out the actions this Government are taking to tackle the problems caused by wet wipes that contain plastic. I start by paying tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Fleur Anderson) for the work she has done to raise this…”

“I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. I particularly pay tribute to our colleagues from Northern Ireland for coming and sharing their perspective on this and how it relates to the communities they represent. I will do my best to respond to the questions. Affordable and accessible dental care is important to…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Control of Mercury (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure, as ever, to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. This affirmative statutory instrument introduces mechanisms to enforce the EU mercury regulation in Northern Ireland under the Wi…”