Speeches by Tufnell.

“It feels like the focus is all wrong. In certain areas, things have not been updated since the Victorian times. If it is a complex industry, why are we having such issues around pay structures, bonuses and all this other stuff that goes on and takes up time and energy, and not concentrating on the inherent nature of th…”

“David, do you have any views on that?”

“On the complexity point, David, it amazes me that you have a natural monopoly but increasingly complex ownership structures, with the level of financial chicanery that goes on. I feel like the level of complexity is imposed by certain companies rather than being anything to do with the inherent nature of the water indu…”

“It feels like the focus is all wrong. In certain areas, things have not been updated since the Victorian times. If it is a complex industry, why are we having such issues around pay structures, bonuses and all this other stuff that goes on and takes up time and energy, and not concentrating on the inherent nature of th…”

“Are you satisfied with the changes announced by the Government to the guaranteed standards scheme?”

“We talked about scarcity consumption. If a household supplied by you reduced its consumption by 20%, would it become a loss-maker for you?”

“You have access to the meter chamber, so you could install a flow controller if you wanted to, to reduce consumption by 20%.”

“What about flow controllers?”

“Flow controllers are proven to reduce domestic water consumption by about 20%.”

“I just have a final point, on consumer representation within the water companies. We have the Water (Special Measures) Bill coming through Parliament. I would be interested to hear your views about what further steps we could take. You have talked about the importance of hearing that voice within the industry. Clearly,…”

“David, you have talked about the investment aspect for companies, and we have talked about the rate of return. What are water companies doing to improve their customers’ experience? That often gets missed when we are talking more generally about the industry as a whole.”

“Tom, would you accept what Mike has just set out about how outages and supply issues often impact the most vulnerable in our society?”

“Are water companies sufficiently supported when those incidents happen?”

“There is an increase in sewage flooding the water supply, which presumably has a big impact on customers.”

“We have touched on investment, and I was wondering whether, Mike, you could talk about the changing opinions towards water companies over time, and the main drivers of those opinions.”

“You have access to the meter chamber, so you could install a flow controller if you wanted to, to reduce consumption by 20%.”

“Flow controllers are proven to reduce domestic water consumption by about 20%.”

“What about flow controllers?”

“We talked about scarcity consumption. If a household supplied by you reduced its consumption by 20%, would it become a loss-maker for you?”

“On the complexity point, David, it amazes me that you have a natural monopoly but increasingly complex ownership structures, with the level of financial chicanery that goes on. I feel like the level of complexity is imposed by certain companies rather than being anything to do with the inherent nature of the water indu…”