Speeches by Hardy.

“Thank you, Mr Vickers, for the opportunity to speak about the importance of clause 3. Monitoring and reporting on discharges from sewage outlets provides important transparency around the frequency and duration of sewage discharges, to support enforcement action and policy development and to direct investment to reduce…”

“I thank all Members for their contributions to the debate on clause 3. I reiterate my promise to provide a factsheet and information about the numbers we have used. We have had an interesting debate about the different types of monitors. To clarify, we have emergency overflows, storm overflows, water quality monitors, …”

“I thank all hon. Members for their thoughtful contributions during this debate and the careful consideration of the amendments tabled to clause 4. We are in danger of having a bit of a love-in with so much agreement in this room. I turn first to amendment 26, which was tabled by the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lons…”

“Thank you, Mr Vickers, for the opportunity to speak on the importance of clause 5. The clause strengthens the penalty for obstructing the investigations of the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Drinking Water Inspectorate. Obstruction of investigations by the regulators is already an offence, but that…”

“I am just about to finish. On the basis of what I have said, I hope that clause the clause can stand part of the Bill.”

“Individuals can already be prosecuted, under section 110 of the Environment Act 1995, for obstructing Environment Agency investigations. However, that legislation does not allow executives to be prosecuted where obstruction has occurred with their consent or connivance or is attributable to their neglect. The Bill will…”

“I am obviously a bit of a fangirl of Feargal Sharkey, not least because of his musical career before entering the field of environmental campaigning. We do not expect this measure to materially impact on court case numbers. The intention is to deter offending. Not all cases will go to the Crown court, but it is right t…”

“Regulators can currently impose civil penalties where they are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that an offence has been committed. The civil penalties are imposed by the regulators, rather than through the courts. The criminal standard of proof is appropriate for severe offences—for example, where there is a major im…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Epping Forest for his contribution to the debate. I think the point my hon. Friend, and friend, Baroness Hayman made in the Lords is that we do need some flexibility, and that it would be inappropriate to set out the details of implementing these powers in the Bill, because that would result…”

“I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making, which is that people need to have access, clearly and simply, to as much information as possible. My point is that if we put such details into law in the Bill, the way in which we want people to access such information may change—technology or best practice may …”

“I strongly disagree that this amendment weakens the Bill or is retrograde. Instead, it is doing things effectively. If we were to put a six-month deadline in the Bill and rush to get the rules done in that period of time and there were complications, we would risk leaving a loophole that could be exploited by companies…”

“My hon. Friend is very charming, which always makes it harder to say no. I would be happy to look into the scheme in more detail for him.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his work to support his community at this difficult time. If I can be of assistance in talking to the Department for Transport, of course I will be.”

“I thank my hon. Friend. I am sure her constituent has done an incredible job—the flood groups have done an amazing job—and I understand why she must be feeling so exhausted. We have mentioned the impact that flood events have on people’s mental health. We want to look at areas at risk of repeated flooding in the floodi…”

“I will try to answer as many of the hon. Gentleman’s questions as I can. I share his concern about the impact of flooding on people’s mental health, which cannot be exaggerated. Someone losing their home, or seeing it damaged, and having to move out over the winter has a devastating impact on them. I agree that farmers…”

“Happy new year to everybody in the House. I would like to update the House on the flooding situation in England, and I start by extending my heartfelt sympathy to all the people and businesses affected. Having your home or place of work flooded at any time is a horrendous experience, but it is particularly dreadful at …”

“If the hon. Gentleman has not had the experience he needs with the Environment Agency, I am happy to take up that issue. An hon. Friend mentioned a good idea on the call last Friday: issuing an emergency flood pack to MPs containing all the details and information of who to contact and when. Members would then have tha…”

“That is an important question. Without going into this in too much detail, one of the important things when looking at sustainable urban drainage solutions is how they are going to work in communities, because we cannot solve a problem in one area and say we are dealing with flooding there if it creates a problem somew…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for her question. That is a really important question because, particularly today and in the past couple of days, many of our highways have been impacted. Indeed, as has been mentioned, the railways have also been impacted. I found it more difficult to get here, as I know have other hon. Members. …”

“I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman has asked the last question on my first statement. In terms of what can be done, we need to continue to work with other Departments through the flood resilience taskforce to look at how we can improve resilience and ensure that people get back to work. As he knows, flooding and wa…”