Two of my proudest achievements in Parliament have been actions to protect our unique landscape and environment.
As UK International Champion on Adaptation and Resilience for the COP26 Presidency, and as the Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, I was honoured to put the Net Zero strategy together.
While just the other day, I was proud to be the Minister responding for the Government in a debate on protecting our seas and oceans. The ‘High Seas Treaty’ – which the British Government worked hard over the last 14 years to secure – will establish protected areas to safeguard two thirds of our global oceans, keeping it clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse. I’m proud the UK signed the Treaty the day it opened for signature at the UN.
Here on the chilly coast of our North Northumberland constituency, we have nine bathing waters – including Bamburgh beach, my kids’ favourite! In these and our rivers alike, I agree with you all – sewage spills are unacceptable.
Despite the protests of others, this is the first Government to take steps to address sewage spills from storm overflows. Let’s be clear, we only know about the unacceptable spills because only the Conservatives cared enough to check. In 2010, a pitiful 7% of overflows were monitored for sewage discharges. This is now 100%.
This means we’ve now been able to make laws with duties and targets to reduce this, fine water companies unlimited penalties (re-invested in water infrastructure) and water bosses will be banned from receiving bonuses if companies commit serious criminal breaches. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats voted against laws forcing water companies to clean up our rivers.
Storm overflows, as the name implies, are for immediate emergency-level rainfall, which no one wants to see flowing back up into your homes, so the £4.5 billion to improve infrastructure that Northumbrian Water plan to invest in the next five years is very welcome.
Last month I visited Rothbury Waste Treatment Works – £4.3 million recent upgrade – and Embleton Sewage Treatment Works – a further £3 million investment – to discuss with their Chief Executive.
Protecting our unique landscape and environment is one of my top six priorities, and my record speaks for itself.
