Committee Corridor

• Why is our water sector broken?

  Is our water system broken? The interim report from the Independent Water Commission says so.  “Irresponsible owners, poor leadership, low investment and ineffective prioritisation,” reports the House of Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. The scale of the challenge facing regulators is huge, says the National Audit Office. And consumer trust in the water industry is at an all time low.  What will it take to put it right? Join Committee Corridor host, Toby Perkins MP as he sits down with the environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey to work out what’s gone wrong. Informed and incensed, Feargal is clear about the options ahead for water companies and regulators. After questioning 10 of England and Wales’ water and sewerage companies, the EFRA Committee Chair, Alistair Carmichael MP, explains how the sector has forgotten its core functions to provide water and sewerage services to the public and to protect the environment. There’ll be no let-up in parliamentary scrutiny as the Public Accounts Committee will report in the coming months.  Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP relates what shocked his committee most about the recent NAO report on the sector and how low levels of consumer trust are not surprising while bills rise and the performance of companies falls.    Find out more about the inquiries and reports mentioned in this episode: Current work by the Environmental Audit Committee  Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee: Priorities for water sector reform Public Accounts Committee: Water sector regulation  National Audit Office: Regulating for investment and outcomes in the water sector  Select committees are on Instagram @UKCommonsCommittees. 

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• Tackling twin crises: how can the Government deliver new homes while meeting climate goals?

  1.5 million new homes and net zero by 2050: can the Government do both?  A safe, secure and affordable place to live is the foundation of a healthy and prosperous life. But the UK is facing an acute shortage of homes. What is to be done, and how do we ensure environmental targets are still delivered? The latest episode of Committee Corridor, the podcast from Select Committees at the House of Commons, considers the housing crisis. Ahead of the Spending Review (on June 11), host Toby Perkins MP, Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, asks: how do we build enough homes, ensuring they are both of high enough quality and contribute to meeting our environmental and nature goals?   Toby speaks to Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF) which represents housing associations, who sets out the scale of priorities facing the sector; how buildings need to adapt to climate changes by improving energy efficiency and the sector’s commitment to improving the condition of quality and safety of residents’ homes.  Labour MP Joe Powell, member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, tells Toby what the Committee found when it recently explored the issue of temporary accommodation. Meanwhile former House of Lords Built Environment Committee Chair Lord Moylan voices concerns over the clarity of proposed planning reforms.  

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• Aviation, economic growth and the climate crisis

  What happens when the UK’s biggest issues meet environmental targets and commitments head-on? The Chair of the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee, Toby Perkins MP, hosts the first of five new episodes from the select committee podcast, Committee Corridor. Up first – airport expansion. Simon Calder, travel correspondent at the Independent, joins Toby to consider the UK travelling public’s ‘insatiable desire’ to get away by air and what can be done to manage the impact on local communities and greenhouse gas emissions.They discuss the Government’s view that unlocking airport capacity will boost economic growth. According to the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander MP - there is no conflict between expanding aviation and delivering on the UK’s legal, climate and environmental obligations. But climate campaigners have launched judicial reviews to challenge the Government’s policy for achieving net zero aviation by 2050 and to halt the Government’s plans for expansion at Luton. Transport Committee Chair, Ruth Cadbury MP (Labour Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth) and Environmental Audit Committee member, Sarah Gibson MP (Liberal Democrat MP for Chippenham) join Toby to explore how their committees are considering these issues. The Environmental Audit Committee is investigating how airport expansion will impact the UK’s climate and nature goals. Following the Chancellor’s endorsement of expansion at London Heathrow, the Transport Select Committee met to consider if expanding airports in the south east of England can benefit the rest of the UK economy.

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• The work of the Liaison Committee

  At least three times per year, chairs of select committees question the Prime Minister in a sit-down session lasting 90 minutes. It’s one of the more unusual aspects of the work of the Liaison Committee which helps select committees deliver their roles effectively and keep tabs on government policy.  As Sir Keir Starmer MP prepares to face the Committee on 8 April 2025, the Chair of the Liaison Committee, Dame Meg Hillier MP, speaks to Dr Hannah White, the Director of the Institute for Government, an independent thinktank which works to make government more effective. They consider the role of the Liaison Committee – who’s involved, what it does and why its backbench MPs have more access to the PM than any other part of Parliament.   What question would you put to the Prime Minister? When the UK’s Youth Parliament took their seats in the House of Commons chamber recently, Committee Corridor caught up with four members from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We wanted their take on the issues which matter most to them – and will put one of their questions directly to Sir Keir Starmer on 8 April.  In the last Parliament, the Liaison Committee was chaired by Sir Bernard Jenkin MP, Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex. Its final task was to publish a report on strategic thinking in Government which included powerful evidence about the need to include young people’s voices and interests in decision-making.   Among the topics debated by the Youth Parliament was free public transport for young people. Dame Meg Hillier speaks to the Chair of the Transport Committee, Ruth Cadbury (Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth) about the evidence it’s been hearing on the impact of poor bus services on young people as part of their buses connecting communities' inquiry.   Want to know more about the buses connecting communities' inquiry, take a look at our website https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8619/buses-connecting-communities/  Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review and click ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify to be the first to get new episodes as they drop.  Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/  We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/ 

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• Women in the armed forces: What difference did select committees make?

  Are the women who protect us adequately protected? And who should be held accountable if they aren’t? In 2021, the House of Commons Defence Committee published a landmark report finding the Ministry of Defence and Services to have failed in helping female personnel achieve their full potential. The report called on military chiefs and Government to act on the harassment, bullying and discrimination suffered by women in the armed forces. Since then, how far have we come?  In the first episode of Committee Corridor’s brand-new season, Chair of the Liaison and Treasury Committees, Dame Meg Hillier MP, reflects on the impact of the Defence Committee’s report. We talk to inquiry Chairs from the committee past- Conservative Sarah Atherton MP- and present- Labour’s Tan Dhesi MP, as well as witness and Director of the Centre for Military Justice, Emma Norton.  We’re also joined by Liberal Democrat MP Steff Aquarone and Labour MP Natasha Irons, who- as well as being new to select committees - became members of Parliament for the first time in July. Natasha and Steff discuss their impressions of joining select committees and hopes for the new Parliament.  We understand that the issues raised in the podcast may be sensitive or upsetting and the following organisations may be able to offer support or further information:  Samaritans - Call 116 123 - 24 hours a day, every day | Email [email protected] Refuge: free, 24 hour national domestic abuse helpline: Home | Refuge National Domestic Abuse Helpline (nationaldahelpline.org.uk) Rape Crisis England and Wales: Want to talk? | Rape Crisis England & Wales Support from women's aid: Home - Women's Aid (womensaid.org.uk) Respect: Men's advice line Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men | Men's Advice Line UK (mensadviceline.org.uk) For more information about Salute Her UK: https://www.saluteher.co.uk/  If you’d like to find out more about the Defence Committee’s Women in the Armed Forces inquiry, you can read the full report here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5802/cmselect/cmdfence/904/report.html?utm_source=podcasts&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=podcast_season_five&utm_id=podcast_shownotes&utm_content=podcast_episode_one  Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review and click ‘follow’ on Apple and Spotify to be the first to get new episodes as they drop.  Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukcommonscommittees/  We’re on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/house-of-commons-committees/  

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