Committee Corridor

Clean Power by 2030 - that’s the ambition set out by the Prime Minister as one of his five central missions. The Government says that means a secure and affordable energy supply, the creation of essential new energy industries and the need to limit our contribution to climate change. Chair of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee and host of Committee Corridor, Toby Perkins MP, speaks to three guests who remain to be convinced. As energy minister, Chris Skidmore signed the UK’s net zero pledge into law in 2019. He later resigned in protest at plans to guarantee annual oil and gas licensing, and now chairs the Climate Action Coalition launched by former US Secretary of State John Kerry. Initially sceptical about the 2030 deadline for clean power, he’s encouraged by the pace of change and says the UK might even deliver faster. It should prioritise investment in new energy industries while keeping an eye on potential hurdles presented by forthcoming changes to English devolution. The House of Commons’ Energy Security and Net Zero Committee recently reported on the ‘energy planning chaos’ in a report titled Gridlock or Growth? Committee Member and Liberal Democrat MP, Claire Young, recommends the Government provide much clearer guidance to planners and developers on how strategic plans related to decisions on delivering grid connections. More diverse energy sources will bring down the UK’s electricity prices will address energy security, she says. “If you compare us to countries like France and Germany, we ‘ve got a less diverse and more volatile collection of energy sources than those countries,” Claire says, pointing to Germany’s combination of hydro, coal and gas, while France uses a high amount of nuclear power. The UK is more reliant on oil and gas, which is more exposed to price spikes.Harriet Cross is a Conservative MP and member of the Scottish Affairs Committee. She emphasises the importance of ensuring a just transition to a net zero future, an issue the Scottish Affairs Committee is currently exploring in its inquiry into GB Energy. The constituency Harriet represents – Gordon and Buchan in Aberdeenshire – is “the absolute heart” of the oil and gas sector, she says. “Ensuring that the transition is properly just, whatever just means, is absolutely vital.” Find out more about the committees’ work: Environmental Audit Committee: Enabling sustainable electrification of the UK economy ESNZ Committee: Gridlock or growth?Scottish Affairs Committee: GB energy and the net zero transition

“Intensely frustrating” – that’s how one guest describes the slow progress of the UK towards ratifying the UN High Seas Treaty.  On this episode of Committee Corridor, host Toby Perkins MP explores how the UK could help tackle the threats facing the world’s oceans, following the UN Ocean Conference in June.  Much of the world’s ocean is unregulated, leaving vulnerable habitats unprotected from threats of pollution, unsustainable fishing and damaging practices such as deep sea mining. The High Seas Treaty is critical to establishing marine protected areas in international waters but needs to be ratified by 60 states before it can come into force. The UK signed it two years ago but has fallen behind other countries in ratifying it – the guests in this episode consider why.  Join Toby as he sits down with Fiona Thomas, Head of Public Affairs at the leading environmental charity, the Marine Conservation Society, to consider the UK’s progress on pressing marine concerns of bottom trawling, ‘forever chemicals’ and global targets such as 30x30 (to protect and conserve at least 30% of the world’s land, freshwater and ocean by 2030). There is a very real risk that rising sea levels will cause some of the world’s most vulnerable countries to disappear underwater by the end of this century. Sarah Champion MP, Chair of the International Development Committee, describes how Small Island Development States are particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change and need the world to notice.  Finally, Toby hears from Pippa Heylings, a fellow MP from the Environmental Audit Committee, about the evidence and outcomes of the Committee’s recent report on Governing the Marine Environment.   Find out more about the work discussed in this episode: Environmental Audit Committee: Governing the Marine Environment International Development Committee: UK Small Island Developing States Strategy   Marine Conservation Society Select committees are on Instagram: @UKCommonsCommittees Listen to our back catalogue!

Feargal Sharkey, an environmental campaigner passionate about rivers, joins Alistair Carmichael, Chair of the EFRA Committee, to tackle the crisis in the UK's water sector. They discuss alarming pollution levels and the shocking release of untreated sewage. Both highlight the need for industry reform, urgent accountability, and better ownership models to restore public trust. The conversation reveals how profit took precedence over environmental care, threatening both resources and consumer confidence, with looming financial burdens for households.

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.  

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.

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/ 

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 jo@samaritans.org 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/  

We’re back!Welcome to series 5 of Committee Corridor, the podcast where Members of the UK Parliament’s select committees come together to unpack the issues that affect millions of lives in the UK every day.The first two episodes will be hosted by Dame Meg Hillier, the MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch and Chair of the Treasury Committee and the Liaison Committee. We'll be looking at committee impact - past, present and future - as we hear the first impressions of new MPs who have joined select committees.In the following episode, we'll explore the work of the Liaison Committee, including sessions with the Prime Minister. What would you ask him? After Easter, we’ll be returning with episodes that put the spotlight on understanding the biggest issues of the day for the UK’s green agenda. Join us this spring on Committee Corridor - coming to you from the heart of Westminster, and exploring the issues that affect you most. To whet your appetite, here's a snapshot of past series.Subscribe, listen and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

Prevention, education and safeguarding: culture change at every level will be crucial to how we tackle violence against women and girls. In the final podcast of this season’s Committee Corridor, host Caroline Nokes MP hears from three women who have taken part in select committee inquiries which consider different aspects of violence against women and girls.  The term “violence against women and girls” is used to describe a wide range of abuses, from harassment in work and public life to domestic abuse, sexual assault and the most serious offences. Andrea Simon, the Director of End Violence Against Women Coalition; Dawn Dines, founder of Stamp out Spiking, and Carolyn Harris MP, a member of the Home Affairs and Women and Equalities Committees, explore the interventions which are required to confront behaviour which normalises violence against women and girls. The podcast includes content on sexual harassment and violence in schools, spiking, stealthing and discussion of the investigation and prosecution of rape.  Ending violence against women and girls “is everyone’s business”, Andrea tells Caroline. “We know that ultimately, we live in a world that unless we address those underlying causes and excuses for violence against women, we won't be able to create the change that we need to see.”   Your host, for the final time in this series, is Caroline Nokes, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North.    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 jo@samaritans.org 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) We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠⁠.

Around a quarter of the UK's adult population have signed a petition to Parliament. It's one of the ways that UK residents can alert members of Parliament to concerns that matter to them and make their voices heard. Petitions to the UK Parliament e-petition site ask for a change to the law or to policy. Since launching eight years ago, more than 30,000 petitions have been created, attracting more than 110 million signatures – and 350 of them have been debated by MPs.  Today, podcast host Catherine McKinnell MP, unwraps how the process works and ask how petitions can make a difference, through the experience of Andy Airey. Andy is one third of ‘Three Dads Walking’ who petitioned Parliament to make suicide prevention a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Andy's daughter Sophie took her own life in 2018, aged 29. He campaigns alongside Mike Palmer and Tim Owen, who lost their daughters, Beth and Emily, at the ages of 17 and 19. They are joined by Nick Fletcher, the member of the Petitions Committee who opened the debate in the House of Commons. Nick is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Don Valley.  A Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds, Cristina Leston-Bandeira works on how Parliaments engage the public, particularly through petitions. She sets out why petitions are important and how the UK compares to other countries and legislatures. Your host, for the final time in this series, is Catherine McKinnell, the Chair of the Petitions Committee at the House of Commons and Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North. We want to learn more about our audience and why you listen to the Committee Corridor podcast. ⁠Tell us what you think via our feedback form⁠.