Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed that amendments made by the House of Lords to the legislation will be brought before MPs on 8 November. By this point, the COP26 conference will already have completed its first week.
The passage of the Environment Bill has not been perfectly smooth, due to a wider public backlash; bilateral parliamentary criticism, and a government U-turn regarding regulations against dumping raw sewage into waterways.
The House of Lords has backed by 213 to 60 (majority 153) an amendment to place a statutory duty on water companies to “take all reasonable steps” to prevent raw sewage leakage into the environment. The upper chamber has also taken on the government over steps to ensure the independence of the new environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection, and backed motions to strengthen courts to enforce public authorities’ compliance with environmental law.
The bill is now headed back to...