Communities and Local Government/Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

My hon. Friend has applied the point that I made earlier about the planning Bill to a local matter. I am sure that she would be dismayed if that measure allowed the second runway to go ahead, fast-tracked through the planning system and overriding the wishes of local communities and possibly local authorities. Sustainability is the thread that should run through the work of the two Departments that we are debating. It is disappointing to witness the slow progress so far and the slender signs of progress in the coming Session. We have seen the collapse in support and funding for British Waterways and the Environment Agency and the fiasco in the farm payments scheme. While we are talking about the Environment Agency, may I ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what conversations she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about her Department’s intention to build 108,000 more houses on flood plains at a time when the funding for dealing with the problems on those flood plains is being cut? Of course, there is always a shortage of money and there always have to be priorities. We have a suggestion: let us restore some of the funding to British Waterways and the Environment Agency and save some of the £44 million spent on consultants’ fees by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs over the last three years. I am sorry to say that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government produced bland words and the action that is to follow is very shallow. There is a failure to tackle environmental sustainability, to tackle climate change vigorously and to deliver affordable and accessible housing. We urge the Government to make more effort in the coming Session to match their actions to their words.