Speeches by Hatton.

“I don’t think that’s quite correct; I think you are referring to the former chief executive.”

“I am talking about another case that was reported just days ago in The Guardian, where the current chief executive and the current chief finance officer both received well over £20,000 in previously undisclosed extra pay. I am aware of why bonuses bans are put in place; I know that you have given us the reason. I am su…”

“I have got all that as well; we can go over that, too.”

“All three of you will no doubt have seen the recent media reports in The Guardian that the bosses of Wessex Water, a water firm that serves my constituency, received some £50,000 in previously undisclosed extra pay from a parent company last year. That has obviously drawn a lot of public interest in the light of the fa…”

“Which did happen in the case of Wessex Water.”

“Isn’t this the exact problem? We see these water companies just happening to be one part of a complex and opaque web of companies. Therefore, the Act as it stands is perhaps not tough enough. I really would like to know what Ofwat is absolutely able to do to look at the whole web of companies and have a clear picture o…”

“Lastly, when will the first investigation likely conclude? Can we get a date? When will the second emergency investigation likely conclude?”

“In your judgment, do you think that happened in this Wessex Water incident?”

“So, in your judgment that didn’t happen, despite the calls of the regulator, with Wessex Water, and it was actually operating in quite a secret and shadowy way?”

“I am sure that everybody here has been fairly appalled by the significant water supply outages across much of the south-east of England. In 2023, Ofwat launched an investigation into South East Water, looking at these supply outages. That investigation, which is over two years old, has not concluded, and it has not com…”

“When you say that parties have rights of defence, are you talking about South East Water?”

“It seems to feel, particularly to people living in the south-east, but I imagine to everyone on the Committee, that it would be defending the indefensible. We have seen long-term problems across much of the south-east of England, where there have been significant and repeated water outages. This pace of working feels v…”

“Q Both mayors have touched on this point in some detail already. I just wondered what your view was on whether the Bill contains the right elements to ensure that we can get the simplest and most local improvements made. A frustration that so many of us in this place have is that the current rail network is deeply frag…”

“Finally on that point, can you make it clear to the Committee what measures the Home Office is taking to engage with a much broader range of stakeholders, so that some of the failures of the past on safeguarding, health and fire risks are not repeated? Again, those were mistakes we saw in the case of the Bibby Stockhol…”

“Where we have come from was the idea of the limited engagement tactics. Again, without trying to sound like a broken record, I return to the example of the Bibby Stockholm barge in my constituency, where those tactics were in play. We saw an almost immediate breakdown of relations between the Home Office, Dorset counci…”

“But the NAO and this Committee found that it was more expensive than other forms of accommodation, so I do not know how it could be successful.”

“You do accept, Simon, the delay in the implementation of the recommendations put forward by this Committee?”

“Have you sold it?”

“To build on the points just made by the Chair, in 2023 this Committee recommended that the Home Office move to much more meaningful engagement with local councils, so that they have a say in the use of accommodation in their areas. My understanding is that doing that—implementing the Committee’s recommendation—has been…”

“I don’t think I would use the word “successful”. I would say it was a complete waste of public money.”