Contributions
1,009 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI support what the hon. Gentleman says about the Environment Act, which is a worthwhile piece of legislation passed by the previous Government. I also support what he says about…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI welcome the Liberal Democrats’ conversion; when they were in government, and when the Water Minister was indeed a Liberal Democrat, they commissioned a report that found there…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI am afraid that the Green party’s proposals would mean paying £100 billion of taxpayers’ money to the owners of the water companies. That money would have to be taken away from…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI absolutely agree with my hon. Friend and share his sentiment that the payment is outrageous. It was possible as part of a scheme that was permitted under the regulatory regime…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend is a vocal champion for his constituents. He is quite right to demand more compensation when outages happen, and an ombudsman. That is what the Government will…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionOf course, social tariffs already exist within the individual water companies—Sir Jon has made recommendations about that. We will consult on that later in the year and then take…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend makes an important point: buck-passing should not be allowed to continue. We are moving to new regional structures that will bring together the regulators,…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI agree with the right hon. Member on one point—that we should be cracking down on tax avoidance; it is always worth looking into that. On his earlier point, I am much more…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI agree with my hon. Friend that that is disgraceful. I am afraid that these problems arose because the previous Government instructed the regulators to apply only a light-touch…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMy hon. Friend makes an important point. In Sir Jon Cunliffe’s final report today, he makes recommendations for how customers can be put at the heart of the new model. There are…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionThere is a system in place for when licences are breached; it is called special administration. The reason we are strengthening regulation and changing the regulator is so that we…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionThis Government are going to do what works, rather than what is ideologically correct. We are not going to strip £100 billion out of public services like the national health…21 Jul 2025HANSARDIndependent Water CommissionOn 23 October, we asked the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Jon Cunliffe, to undertake the biggest review of the water sector since privatisation. The…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI assume that is not my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor), but another David Taylor. I am happy to ensure that my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI completely agree with the hon. Member, who accurately pointed to the failures of both the SNP Government in Scotland and the nationalised model, which does not fix the problems.21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionMonitoring will now be compulsory on every single outlet, not just some of them. That data will be published in near real time so that consumers know exactly what is going into…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionThe new regulatory regime will allow for much closer supervision of the water companies, and will be able to intervene much earlier if there is any sign of those companies failing…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI agree with much of what the hon. Lady says. Her constituents are experiencing what constituents across the country are experiencing. It is not acceptable and it will not…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI am happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. The changes we are bringing about through this water revolution will reduce levels of pollution in chalk streams, and they will…21 Jul 2025HANSARD Independent Water CommissionI agree: it is important that these changes are brought in as quickly as possible. The state of our water sector, given the levels of pollution in our waterways and the…21 Jul 2025