Speeches by Hardy.

“Part of the statement refers to energy policy, so I am conscious as the DEFRA Minister that I am not speaking about DESNZ policy because that would be inappropriate. I hope I have explained what we are trying to do as a new Government, which is looking at prioritisation and making sure we have things in the right place…”

“On marine spatial planning and what we are trying to put where, I hope I have tried to explain the need for a strategic plan on what is going where in our ocean. As we have said, where we put offshore wind, where the MOD is, where cables are, where we dig for aggregates and all these things have evolved over time witho…”

“I work closely with Minister Shanks. The Government’s mission is green energy power. To deliver on that green energy power, he needs offshore wind and that means he needs to put that in the seas and the oceans, which come under my responsibility. We work closely together. We have regular meetings. However, to be clear,…”

“The conversations I tend to have with Minister Shanks are more about how we can ensure the best use of our seas. As I say, I am here talking about the environment. Daniel would be here talking about—”

“If it is an MPA, it is based on features. If it is based on a whole-site approach, it would come under what we would call the highly protected marine areas instead. There are three HPMAs at the moment that are banning pretty much everything that takes place within that area. That is one thing we are looking at. I menti…”

“One thing I was genuinely delighted about was that after we won the election, Prime Minister Starmer recommitted the UK Government to the high level panel for sustainable oceans and he nominated me as chair for that panel. I have met some of the co-chairs of that. This is 15 different countries working together. Becaus…”

“If I had not got rid of my Twitter account, I would have retweeted it myself, too. It goes back to the conversation we were having about when we can get the stage 3 byelaws passed. We are committed to not having bottom trawling in areas that damage the MPAs, especially when they are attached to features that we are try…”

“No. The policy has not changed. The delay is on making sure that I am making the right decision and that I have all the evidence required to make the best decision. I would rather spend a bit longer—a few more months—doing that than make a decision that I regret later on.”

“I am Emma Hardy. I am the Minister for Water and Flooding, but I also have responsibilities for the ocean, chemicals, and pesticides.”

“This is all about our plans to deliver on the Government’s mission for clean power. As you know, one of the most important missions the Government have is to deliver on clean power and one of the things we wanted to look at in terms of marine designation or MPA designation is also whether they are in the right place an…”

“There are different types of marine protected areas. Some were protecting migratory species, seals, harbour porpoises and various others. Some are protecting seabirds. Some are protecting habitats and species and then there are the HPMAs. Different MPAs are there for different reasons. Yes, some of it is about making s…”

“In terms of the marine spatial prioritisation, no, because we have a huge ambition on what we want to deliver on clean energy. This means we will ramp up what we do in terms of offshore wind. It was not done before, under the previous Government, that they had that strategic look at how we use our seas, where we put th…”

“We have not de-designated any MPAs at the moment. That has not happened. We are doing a review to, as I say, make sure they are in the right place for the right feature that they want to protect. As I have mentioned, there are diverse types of marine protected areas, some of them, as I say, protecting seabirds, some pr…”

“You are absolutely right to point out that more needs to be done in terms of protecting MPAs. I completely and utterly agree with you. We are taking more action on this. I am not sure if the MMO mentioned some of the enforcement action that is going on at the moment. We have issued 28 notices on five investigations tha…”

“I hope, if nothing else comes out of me coming here today, that I can offer some reassurance and calm any nerves that people might have on this. This Government are utterly committed to 30 by 30. We are utterly committed to enforcing responsibilities under the Environment Act. This is not a regressive Government. We ar…”

“Thanks so much for your question. As I have mentioned, one thing that the MMO is looking at is licensing. One other thing we are looking at, which is quite exciting, is different technology—looking at drones and how we can investigate and protect what we already have. There have been consultations done on future byelaw…”

“As I mentioned, different MPAs are designated feature by feature. The action being taken depends on the feature that they are protecting. If it is an MPA that is designated for protecting seabirds, the enforcement would be different from if it is protecting the seabed. It will depend on the type of feature that is unde…”

“With respect to Chagos, I will defer to the Minister from the FCDO.”

“I am more than happy to get you the figure. Mike, would you like to add?”

“Absolutely. They were designated on the basis of the feature that was currently there and some of those are for marine birds. As Mike has kindly said, he will let you know exactly how many there are. Some are designated for special areas of conservation. Those are the ones that came from the EU. They were EU-derived MP…”