Barry Gardiner MP: written questions
150 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Thames Water: FTI ConsultingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123575More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the most recent advice that FTI Consulting have given the Department on placing Thames Water into a Special Administration Regime.
Answer: Any advice received from FTI Consulting in this context would be commercially sensitive, and it would not be appropriate to publish it.
Answered 14 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordThames WaterDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 25 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123574More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the most recent legal advice her Department has been given with regards to initiating a Special Administration procedure for Thames Water.
Answer: It is a longstanding principle that Government does not comment on or publish legal advice.
Answered 14 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123122More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an analysis to assess whether using Regulated Capital Value to measure water company values provides the most accurate measure of their value sinc
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2026 to PQ UIN 120291.
Answered 13 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123121More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken an analysis to assess whether using Regulated Capital Value to measure water company values provides the most accurate measure of their value sinc
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 24 March 2026 to PQ UIN 120291.
Answered 31 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123114More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department has set a date by which it aims to have ended operator self-monitoring in the water industry.
Answer: Government has committed to ending ‘operator self-monitoring’ so water companies will no longer mark their own homework on pollution incidents. We will develop a new strengthened open monitoring approach for monitoring wastewater. This will be driven by g...
Answered 13 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123113More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the (a) financial and (b) non-financial costs to the public between the privatised model and public ownership of th
Answer: The Government has no intention to nationalise the water industry, and therefore has no current plans to asses the financial or non-financial costs to the public between the privatised model and public ownership of the water industry. The Independent Wat...
Answered 16 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123112More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide the names of the members of the Working Groups cites in A New Vision for Water (2026).
Answer: A wide range of stakeholders were consulted on reforms through the Independent Water Commission’s Call for Evidence, which received over 50,000 responses. Whilst there was not a formal working group for the White Paper, ahead of publication we engaged wit...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123111More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the list of Working Groups cited in A New Vision for Water (2026).
Answer: A wide range of stakeholders were consulted on reforms through the Independent Water Commission’s Call for Evidence, which received over 50,000 responses. Whilst there was not a formal working group for the White Paper, ahead of publication we engaged wit...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: RegulationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 24 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 123110More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the costs of the transition set out in the Water White Paper from four water regulators to one.
Answer: Across all our reforms the goal is to deliver our key outcomes - environment, customers, investability - in the most effective and efficient way possible to ensure lasting value.
Answered 30 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Agency: Legal ProfessionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122642More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many solicitor vacancies there were in the Environment Agency Area facing legal services teams in 2008, 2014, 2020 and 2026.
Answer: The table below shows the number of solicitors employed by the Environment Agency in the Area facing legal services teams in 2020 and 2026, and the number of vacant lawyer posts that were being held during these years. The Environment Agency does not hold...
Answered 31 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: ProsecutionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122637More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for the 28 enforcement undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency from water companies between 26 July 2024 and 12 February 2026, if there was a recommendation to prosecute from t
Answer: There have been 31 enforcement undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency from water companies between 26 July 2024 and 12 February 2026 as detailed below. Of these, 20 have been closed. 5 have a prosecution recommendation by an Investigating Officer...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: ProsecutionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122636More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for the 28 enforcement undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency from water companies between 26 July 2024 and 12 February 2026, what criteria was used in the decision not to pro
Answer: There have been 31 enforcement undertakings accepted by the Environment Agency from water companies between 26 July 2024 and 12 February 2026 as detailed below. Decisions regarding prosecution are made in line with the Environment Agency enforcement and s...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Agency: Legal ProfessionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122635More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many solicitors were employed by the Environment Agency in the Area facing legal services teams in 2008, 2014, 2020 and 2026.
Answer: The table below shows the number of solicitors employed by the Environment Agency in the Area facing legal services teams in 2020 and 2026, and the number of vacant lawyer posts that were being held during these years. The Environment Agency does not hold...
Answered 31 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122634More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of ending operator self-monitoring in the water industry.
Answer: The EA already operates a robust, risk-based system to respond to pollution incidents. The increase in inspections, including unannounced inspections, will allow the EA to conduct more in-depth and independent audits to get to the root-cause of incidents,...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: Repairs and MaintenanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122633More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of requiring all water company incidents to be attended.
Answer: The EA already operates a robust, risk-based system to respond to pollution incidents. The increase in inspections, including unannounced inspections, will allow the EA to conduct more in-depth and independent audits to get to the root-cause of incidents,...
Answered 26 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: InspectionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122632More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria her department used in its decision to aim to conduct 10,000 water company asset inspections by April 2026.
Answer: The Environment Agency (EA) increased its capacity for inspections of water company assets, with over 4,000 inspections completed from April 2024 to March 2025. In April 2025 the EA increased its target for inspections to a further 10,000 in 2025/26 as pa...
Answered 14 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordSewageDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 13 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120599More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Office for Environmental Protection’s report entitled Investigation Report addressed to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in relation
Answer: The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) concluded its investigation in December 2025 and is taking no further action due to the significant progress that has been made by Defra, Ofwat and the Environment Agency (EA). This progress includes: Defra re...
Answered 19 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: NationalisationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120292More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to undertake a cost-benefit analysis of the (a) financial and (b) non-financial costs to the public between the privatised model and public ownership of th
Answer: The reality is it would take years to unpick the current ownership model, it would be extremely complex, and we would be in the courts for years. Billions of pounds of private investment going in to fixing broken pipes would be slashed in the meantime. Na...
Answered 20 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater Companies: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120291More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what analysis her department has undertaken to assess whether using Regulated Capital Value to measure water company values provides the most accurate measure of their value.
Answer: Regulatory Capital Value was originally set with reference to the equity value and debt levels of each water and sewerage company at privatisation. It has been updated by the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat) since and provides a proxy for the t...
Answered 24 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120290More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her department has set a date by which it aims to have ended operator self-monitoring in the water industry.
Answer: We want to move away from Operator Self‑Monitoring because the current system does not provide the transparency or independent assurance the public expects. As set out in the Water White Paper, we are working with regulators on how best to transition to a...
Answered 19 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordWater: StandardsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120288More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has formally responded to the Office for Environmental Protection's information notices regarding compliance with the Water Framework Directive.
Answer: This Government welcomes the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP)'s investigation, and we responded to their Information Notice on 6 March. We continue to work collaboratively with them to improve our waterways. The Government accepts the OEP’s concl...
Answered 17 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordSewage: Waste DisposalDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 12 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120287More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Office for Environmental Protection Investigation Report, published in December 2025.
Answer: In December 2025, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) published the concluding reports of its investigation into the regulation of network Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) in England. I was pleased to see recognition that work undertaken by this ...
Answered 20 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordUK Airspace Design ServiceDepartment for TransportTabled 6 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 118494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what environmental duties will be placed on the UK Airspace Design Service.
Answer: The UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) must follow the processes for airspace change, including environmental requirements, set by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in line with the Government’s Air Navigation Directions and Air Navigation Guidance.Any a...
Answered 16 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordUK Airspace Design ServiceDepartment for TransportTabled 6 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 118493More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects the UK Airspace Design Service to be fully operational.
Answer: The UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) provided by NATS En Route PLC (NERL) has now begun work to enable it to deliver its functions and design airspace for the complex London region. A number of processes to complete the establishment of the UKADS will b...
Answered 16 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordUK Airspace Design ServiceDepartment for TransportTabled 6 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 118492More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what work her department has taken to ensure overflown communities are represented in the governance structure of the UK Airspace Design Service.
Answer: The Government and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) jointly consulted on proposals to establish a UK Airspace Design Service (UKADS) in 2024, and responses to that consultation, including from overflown communities, has helped to inform our plans. Betwe...
Answered 16 Mar 2026
Original Parliament record
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