Speeches by Maynard.

“I get that, but just take every free trade agreement from the last 10 years and publish once a year. It is not specific to ANZ or anywhere else: it is just the principle. Do we agree that we want to see how we are doing with our free trade agreements, and that we will publish data on an ongoing basis, every 12 months, …”

“I am not taking part in that conversation; I am taking part in this one. Do you agree that it is a good principle for us to publish data year in, year out? If we sign up to free trade agreements, we ought to track how we do against them. It is not a trap—it is just nuts and bolts. Is that a good thing to do? You can ju…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. Good morning, everyone. I will highlight two key points about new clause 28, which concerns what happens when companies that have gone into special administration come out of it. Subsection (1) refers to considering “the merits of changing the law to provide that a …”

“We will not put this to a vote, but I will continue to highlight the point that £200 million is too high a benchmark and we should drop it, because that would serve us all, and our customers, better. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 33 Responsibility in relation to plan…”

“Two-hundred million is a really big number. In my patch in Witney, we have sewage treatment works as far as the eye can see that are undercapacity and are leaking sewage all over the place—at Bampton, Cassington, Carterton, Witney, Milton; you name it. It is awful, and I am sure that is the case in other constituencies…”

“The point about “relevant time” is fair and deserves to be clarified. I completely agree on the issue of statutory consultees and have no issue with that either—that would make much more sense, because there is a real failure in that regard. I will go a step further—I have lived experience in this regard—and give a spe…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. New clause 32 is about procurement. I will read out the key point: “The Authority must issue rules requiring relevant undertakers to use competitive procurement processes in respect of procurement relating to water infrastructure.” What are we getting at here? There…”

“I am happy to hear that mutual ownership is being considered. I am very grateful for that. I will take my chances and try to clear up one point. I completely agree with what the Minister read out from the last page of the fact sheet: “Would the shortfall recovery mechanism be used to compensate financial creditors or s…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. I do not know when that changed. [Interruption] In 2015, was it? There we are: maybe it was changed in 2015. Perhaps all of us, or most of us, recognise that is not a good situation. Time and again—I have seen this in Witney, Ducklington, Bampton, Aston and Carterton—this …”

“These timelines are too slow. Setting the date at 2035 for monitor installation will mean that this is done at a much slower rate than the rate over the last seven years. That is disappointing. Targets set for 2045 and 2050 are too far away. We do not need to, and should not, move that slowly. We must do better.”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. There are only three new clauses to go; I will highlight the key parts of new clause 33. Subsection (2)(1A) states: “When participating in a planning consultation, or when otherwise providing advice in relation to a planning matter, a water undertaker must provide f…”

“What I really like about our proposal is that the companies are coming out of special administration, so it does not cost anybody anything: the equity of the shareholders has been written off. We often hear that it would not be a good idea, because it would cost too much to buy the companies out. Under our proposal, we…”

“That may be a chink of light, because all I have heard from the Government so far is “Only private companies welcome here.” My understanding is that the Cunliffe review’s remit purposely excludes ownership. If that is now on the table, it is great news, because it is one of the fundamental problems in the water sector.…”

“This is a big one: companies to be placed in special measures for missing pollution targets. I will read out the key bits: “(2DZA) For the purposes of ensuring that the functions of water and sewerage undertakers are properly carried out, the Authority must establish…annual, and…rolling five-year average pollution targ…”

“We wish to press the new clause to a Division. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“I thank the hon. Member for Monmouthshire for her excellent point. It is very interesting that a mutually owned water company is taking that very sensible decision and approach. It highlights that that is a benefit. They are not trying to make money hand over fist. They are trying to do the right thing.”

“We will not press this new clause to a vote. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. Question proposed, That the Chair do report the Bill, as amended, to the House.”

“I am sorry, but with spill per overflow, I again think we are drinking the water industry’s Kool-Aid. We are doing its metrics, and that is not doing anybody any favours. We are talking about spill per overflow; what we should be talking about is how many hours. We have that information. Why are we not saying how many …”

“On that point, may I intervene?”

“We all welcome one another, but I meant the fact sheet. I really appreciate your going to the trouble of putting it together; I thank your team as well. I have read it diligently and done my best, but I have a quiz question for you. The first bullet point refers to giving “the power to recover HMG funding should there …”