The Lords questioned how far the Government’s World Ocean Day claims match delivery, focusing on delayed rules needed to ratify the global high seas biodiversity treaty, enforcement of marine protected areas and action on bottom trawling; ministers said Blue Belt protections will expand beyond 4 million square kilometres and aim to bring in bottom-trawling by-laws by the end of 2026.

Peers backed the first phase of a new system requiring permitted waste sites to record received waste digitally within two working days, while pressing ministers on enforcement, exemptions and whether the promised full end-to-end tracking system will cover all producers when it expands to around 100,000 operators from October 2027.

Baroness Hayman of Ullock moved approval for draft marine licensing order and regulations laid in April, after scrutiny by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and a Grand Committee debate on 10 June.

Peers considered an order that would bring UK marine licensing law into line with the BBNJ treaty, allowing the UK to ratify the UN agreement on protecting marine life in waters beyond national jurisdiction. Supporters backed the environmental safeguards, while others warned that the new exemptions must not become loopholes and pressed ministers on wider protection for the Chagos Islands, UK fishing waters and the overseas territories.

Peers considered regulations setting safety and purity standards for magnesium L-threonate monohydrate in food supplements in England. Ministers said the ingredient has been assessed as safe and the change is a technical update that lets it be sold legally, while one peer asked how the purity rules will work in practice and another warned about any future UK-EU food rule changes limiting Parliament’s say.

Peers pushed the Government to put food production and farm profitability at the centre of its farming plans, while also asking how it will support climate resilience, upland and small family farms, and tackle bovine TB. Ministers pointed to new SFI and capital grants schemes, a forthcoming response to the Batters review and a 25-year farming road map, but several calls — including for clearer food-security targets and faster publication of the long-term plan — remained unresolved.