At the hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee on Monday 14th September, Barry questioned Emma Hardy about the new government air pollution alert service.
This was the final ministerial hearing of the Committee’s inquiry into Air Pollution, with the report likely to be published in late October or early November.
On Wednesday 2nd September, Barry sat on the Transport Select Committee in their first hearing to scrutinise the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS), following its public consultation over the summer.
Barry asked Alex Chapman of the New Economics Foundation about the assessments made by government which show that the costs of Heathrow expansion would likely be in the tens of billions.
At the Environmental Audit Committee on Wednesday 1st July for the Committee’s Data Centres Inquiry, Barry discussed the use of data centre excess heat for heat networks.
At a hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee on Monday 15th June, Barry questioned the Climate Minister Katie White on the government’s proposals for Carbon Budget 7.
At a hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee on the 21st of May, Barry discussed the National Security Assessment on Global Biodiversity Loss, which found that 6 critical global ecosystems are on a pathway to collapse without significant global efforts to reverse their decline.
On Wednesday 18th March, Barry heard evidence from several experts on air pollution, in the first hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee’s new inquiry into the topic.
At the EAC hearing on ancient woodlands on Wednesday 11th March, Barry questioned a range of experts from the Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust and others about government targets to restore ancient woodlands, and what needs to be done to protect these habitats.
On Tuesday 10th March, the EAC heard evidence from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Barry asked the Secretary of State a series of questions on government work to reform the water sector, following 37 years of failed privatisation in which bills have soared, illegal sewage has been dumped thousands of times, and companies have racked up tens of billions of pounds in debt and dividend payments to shareholders.
As highlighted in the recent Channel 4 docu-drama Dirty Business, people’s lives have been ruined due to systematic illegality and failings on the part of the companies, various regulators, and governments.
Barry asks the SoS about storm overflows.
Barry tackles the issue of investment into the water sector and the supposed costs of nationalisation
On Wednesday 4th March, Barry questioned various witnesses during the EAC’s one-off evidence session on the restoration of peatlands in the UK.
Here are some of his exchanges with Andrew Gilruth (Chief Executive at Moorland Association) and Gabrielle Edwards (Deputy Director of Access, Landscape, Peatland and Soils at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On Tuesday 10th February, Barry presented his application to hold a debate on air pollution to the Backbench Business Committee. Barry’s application was supported by MPs from across the party political spectrum, including Labour, Greens, Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, the DUP, and the Social Democratic and Labour Party.
At the Environmental Audit Committee hearing on Wednesday 4th February, Barry asked Minister Hardy about the Government’s new PFAS Plan
At the Environmental Audit Committee hearing on the 28th of January, Barry put questions to the Office for Environmental Protection on the government’s air pollution targets, which neither he nor the OEP believe are ambitious enough.
Sitting in for Chair, Toby Perkins MP, Barry asked Ed Miliband a range of questions following on from COP30 in Brazil in November.
Here, Barry asks the Secretary of State about commitments made towards adaptation finance.
At the EAC hearing on Wednesday 3rd December, Barry asked Jonathon Counsell from the International Airlines Group about the roles of sustainable aviation fuel and demand management in the aviation sector’s emissions reductions.
On Wednesday 22nd October, Barry put questions to the Brazilian Ambassador to the UK in the lead up to COP30 in Belem this November.
At an EAC hearing on Monday 15th September with the Climate Change Committee, Barry raised the issue of airport expansion with the Chief Executive, Emma Pinchbeck.
In the Environmental Audit Commitee hearing on Monday 21st July, Barry put questions to both Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature, Mary Creagh.
At the hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee on Wednesday 16th July, Barry quizzed the Aviation Minister Mike Kane about his work on demand management.
In the hearing of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday 15th July, Barry interrogated Thames Water Chief Executive Christopher Weston, and Thames Water Chair, Sir Adrian Montague.
Barry quizzes Christopher Weston over Thames Water’s environmental obligations.
Barry probes into Thames Water’s finances with its Chair, Sir Adrian Montague.
In the Environmental Audit Committee hearing on Wednesday 9th July, Barry raised the issue of the Wembley Brook flooding in Brent West with the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.
He further probed both the Environment Agency and Minister Emma Hardy on the Government’s flood management.
Barry questions the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency about Wembley Brook.
Barry presses Philip Duffy on the work of the Environment Agency.
Barry questions Minister Hardy about the Government’s flood protection work.