Speeches by Hardy.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairwomanship once again, Dr Huq. As promised, I have provided a fact sheet on the use of special administration. All Committee members should have received it by email, but hard copies are available on the table for their convenience. Welcome to the last day of Committee.”

“It is our secret. I enjoyed the hon. Gentleman’s thoughtful contributions on the importance of using soil in the right way and how farming practices can be updated, which were valuable. As I mentioned to the House last week, and as I am sure people have heard me say before, I am fully aware of the impact of flooding on…”

“I thank the hon. Lady, but I have been told I have 15 seconds left. We will develop a plan for the River Wye and I will let hon. Members know about it as soon as possible. The unacceptable destruction of our waterways should never happen again and we are working to tackle the challenge. Efforts are already underway loc…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) not only for securing this debate but for her work on the Water (Special Measures) Bill. I thank all the campaigning groups and environmental groups that have been mentioned throughout the …”

“To reassure the hon. Gentleman, the Government are committed to the environmental land management programme and are looking at funding natural flood management on farmland. As I said, we are having a meeting on Monday to discuss, with farmers, what more we can do for natural flood management. Part of our vision for far…”

“That sounds like an excellent example. I note that the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton intervened earlier on the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham so, if she does not mind, I will use the last five minutes of the debate to respond to some of the comments made earlier. We are looking at reviewing the flood…”

“I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) and then to the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke), but I have only six minutes.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I am delighted to contribute to this debate with the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew), although I feel that we are spending more time together at the moment than I am with my own family, what with the Bill Committee and other debates.…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for tabling new clause 15. We fully support greater involvement of citizen science to hold water companies to account. I thank them for all the work that they have done in this area up and down our country. Local people know their rivers best, and their campaigns on pollution issues have been…”

“I thank the hon. Member for proposing new clauses 13 and 14 on this incredibly important issue, and for highlighting the importance of PFAS monitoring. I want to reassure everybody that the quality of drinking water in England is exceptionally high and among the best in the world. It is important to me that it remains …”

“The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight that the pollution caused in the Norfolk broads and in many other areas does not come from water companies alone. As has been discussed, it comes from the environment, road run-off and various other places. “High ecological status”, as we have stated, could involve not being abl…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale for tabling the new clauses. It is always nice to have a conversation about the beautiful chalk streams and national parks in our country. New clause 12 would have significant implications for existing legal frameworks and operational delivery, and would not necessar…”

“I understand the intent of new clause 11. The location and health of a water company’s assets is key to ensuring their maintenance and improvement. Under section 199 of the Water Industry Act, companies are required to keep records of the locations of many of their sewers, natural drains or disposal mains. Members of t…”

“I thank the hon. Member for suggesting new clause 10 and agree it is important to understand the impacts of the Bill on the Environment Agency. I echo remarks made by all Members on the wonderful work that the Environment Agency does, particularly those who are working in the frontline and those who were working on new…”

“May I say—often said, not always meant—that it is indeed a pleasure to serve under your chairwomanship, Dr Huq? I thank the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale for the intention behind new clause 8. Ofwat has a range of primary duties, including protecting the interests of consumers, ensuring that companies proper…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale once again for his thorough consideration of the Bill. I will turn first to new clause 7, which was tabled in his name and which proposes the abolition of Ofwat. As the hon. Member will be aware, and as he already mentioned in October ’24, the UK and Welsh Government…”

“I am pleased that hon. Members have echoed my support for the DWI. This clause is specifically about how it can recover some of its costs. It is estimated that the increased cost to householders will be only 2p a year, so it is very good value for money. The wider issue of regulation and regulators will be covered by t…”

“I will quickly note the constructive and nice way in which the hon. Member for Epping Forest is taking part in these debates. I also want to come up with more dentistry analogies, so I will be thinking of those as we keep going. The Bill will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water ind…”

“I respect the hon. Gentleman’s contributions on matters of finance, and I recognise his knowledge in this area. However, I think he would probably acknowledge—even if not publicly—that using a new clause to determine the level of debt that we think is appropriate is not the best way to make legislation for our country,…”

“I hope that the hon. Gentleman has not misunderstood. There is certainly no desire from me to keep pedalling. Instead, what we want to do is look at the entire financial situation of companies—he knows that we have had that conversation outside this room. We need to look at some of the longer-term reform options for ho…”