Speeches by Reed.

“Well, I was not far away a couple of weeks ago—I was down in Lewes. I congratulate my hon. Friend on being such a powerful campaigner on issues relating to sewage in his constituency. He tells me that he has brought together a group of campaigners. I would be delighted to meet him and them to see some of the problems a…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important and timely point. Through the floods resilience taskforce, we are looking at how we can update the modelling to make sure that all areas that need protection will get the investment to do it, because far too many communities are exposed to the dangers of flooding. That is why we are in…”

“As we have heard, this summer has seen wildfires burning across our countryside. I add my thanks to the emergency services, who were out in force to battle those fires, but so too were farmers, gamekeepers and local volunteers who gave up their time and resources to control the fires and help put them out. I pay tribut…”

“I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on raising that important issue, and I agree with the points he makes. The SNP Government in Scotland should be taking a much tougher line against such situations, as it is not acceptable. Levels of pollution in England are bad enough, but under the SNP in Scotland they are even worse,…”

“I am always happy to meet farmers. That is why I have visited two farms already this week and sat down with a group of six farmers to talk about their concerns. I am more than happy to make sure that the people the hon. Gentleman has visiting get an appropriate meeting to discuss their concerns.”

“I am happy to give my hon. Friend that reassurance. The changes we are bringing about through this water revolution will reduce levels of pollution in chalk streams, and they will also reduce the need for abstractions from those chalk streams, which has been one of the most damaging features causing such distress to re…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and it was indeed a pleasure to visit Bury St Edmunds—he is very lucky to represent such a beautiful part of the country. In becoming a citizen scientist, he has joined a very proud movement, and I am sure that he will make an important contribution to its work.”

“The new regulatory regime will allow for much closer supervision of the water companies, and will be able to intervene much earlier if there is any sign of those companies failing to invest in the priorities that they have committed to invest in.”

“I am more than happy to make sure my hon. Friend gets a meeting with an appropriate Minister. I am sure she will be pleased to know that this Government have ringfenced customers’ money so that it can only be spent on the purposes it was intended for, including upgrading broken and leaking pipes, and will no longer be …”

“Not only should we never abandon bill payers, but we never will abandon them. We are revolutionising the entire water sector so that customers’ interests are right at the heart of it in a way they have never been before.”

“In my view—and Sir Jon Cunliffe also makes this point—it is very important that we align water infrastructure investment with spatial planning, so that we can tackle the kinds of problems that my hon. Friend has referred to. We intend to go ahead with that in England; I have already accepted that recommendation in prin…”

“People will have the right to go to the ombudsman to take up complaints such as that one, or any other complaint. Previously, there was no statutory ombudsman that water customers could have recourse to when they faced problems. We will bring one in, and it will operate alongside the much-increased levels of compensati…”

“I assume that is not my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor), but another David Taylor. I am happy to ensure that my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) gets that meeting. Let me take this opportunity to thank her for being such a champion for her residents and her constitue…”

“I think my hon. Friend has already done the job for me.”

“Yes, we are looking at what recommendations we can bring forward early; others will be part of the consultation.”

“I share my hon. Friend’s concerns, as does the Water Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy). We would be happy to make sure he gets his meeting.”

“Monitoring will now be compulsory on every single outlet, not just some of them. That data will be published in near real time so that consumers know exactly what is going into the waterways in the area where they live or where they are on holiday.”

“I agree with my hon. Friend that that is disgraceful. I am afraid that these problems arose because the previous Government instructed the regulators to apply only a light-touch approach to regulation, when they really needed to get an absolute grip on this failing sector. The previous Government failed to do that, but…”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point: buck-passing should not be allowed to continue. We are moving to new regional structures that will bring together the regulators, customers, advocacy groups, businesses and local authorities—to a place where those kind of issues can be resolved.”

“The state of the River Derwent is, alas, similar to many other rivers, lakes and seas up and down the country. That is why we are launching a water revolution today to completely reset the water sector from top to bottom so that the failings of the past can never happen again.”