Speeches by Reed.

“My hon. Friend is right to point out that the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), by his own admission, has “no idea” and no clue about this issue. My hon. Friend is also right that the proposals are detailed. Sir Jon provided a 450-page report with 88 separate recommendations that we will consult on. When we imple…”

“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 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…”

“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 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.”

“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.”

“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…”

“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 …”

“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 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…”

“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…”

“I am happy to send the shadow Minister the list of media coverage I got from the Royal Cornwall Show. He does not seem to be any better at googling than remembering who he sat down with at lunch. I am delighted that the spending review was welcomed by the environmental NGOs and the National Farmers Union as it funds ac…”

“First, I remind the hon. Gentleman that I attended the Royal Cornwall Show with him just a few days ago. I am surprised he has forgotten that, because we sat together in the same tent and enjoyed a very pleasant lunch. I do not know what is wrong with his memory, but anyway. The funding for ELM schemes paid to farmers …”

“My hon. Friend is of course an outstanding champion for his constituents in Stoke-on-Trent North. During 2024-25, more than 800 compliance inspections were conducted at Severn Trent Water sites. The Environment Agency will be attending more minor pollution incidents and will continue to attend all serious pollution inc…”

“As the hon. Member says, I do know of this situation because the facility is adjacent to my constituency as well. He will know that I cannot comment on what the Environment Agency is intending to do, because it is its decision. None the less, I certainly agree with him that the EA must listen to constituents and people…”

“Last week, the Minister for Water and Flooding and I attended the United Nations ocean conference in Nice. We announced that the Government will introduce a Bill by the end of the year to ratify the high seas treaty, delivering on our commitment to protect 30% of the ocean by 2030. This agreement will provide the first…”

“The hon. Member will be aware that we are supporting work in the Wye catchment area to deal with those problems, but she is quite right in what she says. The environmental land management schemes support farmers to reduce agricultural run-off. We are making the announcement that she just mentioned today, and we are als…”