Speeches by Dollimore.

“Have you written to any Ministers outside DEFRA to ask to be let off the hook from fines?”

“They do not feel that way. Actually, the impact of the evidence session last time was dismay and disbelief. It did not motivate the people they represent.”

“At the remuneration committee on 4 November, Sir Adrian, you committed to speak to Ofwat about the legality of the management retention plan and whether it was in keeping with the Water Special Measures Bill. But when you appeared before our Committee and this came into the public domain, Ofwat wrote to us subsequently…”

“It was very clearly taking form in the 4 November meeting. Ian has just said that he would never wish to do anything that circumvented a law, and you gave an undertaking to your board colleagues that you would go and check that with Ofwat. But the reality is that you did not do that for seven months.”

“The scheme as it was designed on 4 November at that point applied to both the CEO and the CFO, so it did cover the individuals targeted by the Water Special Measures Act. Therefore, it would seem very obvious to those looking at this from the outside, that this was designed to circumvent that policy. But you actually h…”

“To refer back to our last evidence session, Sir Adrian, our exchange was about why there was such an emphasis on maintaining the senior leadership and not the junior roles, the frontline roles, the 700 vacancies that Jayne has referred to. Just to be clear, that is the point I was making. Many people will look at the m…”

“Well, it has confirmed that it would be the case if the CEO and the CFO were excluded; but at the point on 4 November, they were included.”

“If you have not taken that decision as a board, why are you lobbying the Government for that as Thames Water?”

“So is it the creditors who are lobbying the Government?”

“The people who live outside London will probably feel they are quite important and essential to fix too.”

“You have said in your accounts that were published this morning that you expect it will take 10 years to fix sewage dumping in the Thames. Are you asking to be let off the hook for 10 years as part of this regulatory reset?”

“You have just spent an hour outlining that process, and we are not going to go back into it now, but it was very unclear how you decided to proceed.”

“We do not actually know that they would not invest because you have been very limited in the bids that you have proceeded with. It has not been an open process with others who wanted to take part in the process. I just do not think this stacks up.”

“Thames is lobbying Government for a smaller haircut for its creditors and being let off these fines. That is quite clear.”

“They would still be making a return; it would just be less.”

“Why do you not just get the extra from the creditors? Why do they not just take a bigger haircut?”

“It makes no difference to the creditors?”

“Can you define regulatory easements? We are talking about fines being cancelled.”

“If you are asking for carve-outs to the rules that say you need to fix certain pipes by certain deadlines, how is that going to fix those pipes any quicker?”

“You do not think it is sustainable? We are talking about a £17 billion deal and between £1 billion and £1.4 billion in fines.”