Speeches by Reed.

“May I take this opportunity to wish a very merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, and to the hard-working House staff? The Government have committed £5 billion to the agricultural budget over the next two years. That is the biggest budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in our history. We are also inve…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. One of the reasons the Government commissioned a review into governance and regulation is because of the failure of the current system that the previous Government allowed to continue. I share customers’ anger about the scale of water bill rises they seem likely to face.…”

“Absolutely. My hon. Friend makes some extremely important points. In my speech, I will be coming on to how we intend to ensure the regulator not only has additional powers but additional resources to enforce those powers.”

“The Conservatives had 14 years to fix the system and they chose to do absolutely nothing. They have left it to the incoming Labour Government to clear up the mess they left behind. The truth is that the water sector needs a complete reset. It needs reform that puts customers and the environment first for once, and a ne…”

“There is a process by which any company would go into administration. That situation has not yet arisen with any company. The Government are, of course, closely monitoring the situation with Thames Water, but as things stand the company remains viable and I reassure consumers in that area that there is no threat, and w…”

“That is an important point. Polluted water does not just damage people’s health; it damages the health of local economies as well, and the compensation will extend to businesses in a way that it previously did not. The Bill gives Ofwat legal powers to ban bonuses if water company executives fail to meet high standards.…”

“My hon. Friend is a doughty campaigner for cleaner water for her constituents, and she is quite right. If millions of pounds had not been diverted unnecessarily and unfairly into bonuses, that money could have been invested in improving the broken water infrastructure. The Bill will go further by expanding the cost rec…”

“I recognise the point that the hon. Lady is making, and the Water Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy), will be pleased to meet her to discuss it further. This Government will not let water companies get away with abuses that the last Government did nothing to sto…”

“My hon. Friend is right to make that point. We are not just giving the regulators more teeth; we are also giving them more resources to ensure that they can carry out enforcement against those responsible for wrongdoing. The Bill requires Ofwat to consider how it can contribute to achieving targets set under the Enviro…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for explaining why her constituents are so angry about the situation, and why the Bill is so necessary as we start to turn the water industry around so that it serves customers and the environment better than it did previously. I want to reassure the House that although water is a devolv…”

“I hope that Members will allow me to make some progress. I am worried about how much time I am taking, given that so many other Members want to contribute to the debate. The Bill is just one part of the Government’s ambitious and long-term approach to fundamentally transforming the water sector. Together with the Welsh…”

“I will make some progress, if Members do not mind. The commission will review regulation and governance from the bottom up to ensure that we have a robust framework that can attract the significant investment that is needed to clean up our waterways, while guaranteeing future water supplies, restoring public confidence…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am delighted to open the Second Reading debate on the Water (Special Measures) Bill—something I hope the whole House will consider to be an early Christmas present. I thank the noble Baroness Hayman of Ullock for her outstanding leadership of the Bill during its…”

“I pay huge credit to my hon. Friend. She has been such a champion for her communities in Hastings and Rye, demanding the better water services they deserve. The failure to invest in our water infrastructure means that the demand for clean drinking water will start to outstrip supply as early as the mid-2030s. Without u…”

“I agree that it is indeed amazing. I know that all of us on the Labour Benches, and perhaps on the Opposition Benches too, share the public’s anger at what happened to our rivers, lakes and seas. The legacy of 14 years of Conservative Government is the highest level of sewage spills on record, economic growth held back…”

“I have to say to the hon. Gentleman that there is very little point in monitoring sewage in the water if all you do is watch the sewage increase and keep on flowing into our rivers, lakes and seas. The Conservatives seem to be satisfied with the failure they presided over. The Labour party will fix the problem that the…”

“They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings, but I am not sure that they had the hon. Gentleman in mind when that particular phrase was coined. I am in regular contact with the devolved authorities, including on flooding. They sit on the floods resilience taskforce and it is important that there is co-ordination acr…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that important point. Part of the role of the floods resilience taskforce will be to ensure that there is clarity on the ground, area by area, as to who are the lead responders and how co-ordination is happening, in a way that will provide the maximum benefit to people wh…”

“I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s point. We will make announcements on FiPL early in the new year.”

“It is always wise to follow the advice that is given for people’s safety. We are in regular contact with colleagues in the Department for Transport and other parts of Government to make sure that we are doing everything we can to keep people safe.”