Speeches by Roca.

“Nicola, can I turn to you to talk about executive pay, which is obviously very much in the media? It is a monopoly business; you have captive customers, so it is controversial. Last year, your base salary was £585,000. Is that right?”

“There were taxable benefits of £13,000 and retirement benefits of £59,000, which you took in cash?”

“Then on top—which is the controversial element, I suppose, although that is already a great deal of money—there is the EIP short-term element, which I guess is what people would consider a bonus of £371,000. Do you feel that is a fair approach to remuneration?”

“It is a very large number and customers will be considering value for money. I do not want to misquote you, but after receiving the bonus, you defended the plan to increase bills by 41% by saying that shareholders wanted to make sure you were kept incentivised. Were you not incentivised by the £657,000?”

“I feel like Abraham Maslow is probably turning in his grave that you would not be incentivised with that base salary. In the basket of measures the remuneration committee uses to look at whether you should receive the EIP, affordability for the customer of their bills is not part of that basket of measures, is it?”

“Nicola, are you alive, and are the board alive, to the concerns that the public have in this area? Fitch downgraded you in January. You were the second worst company for pollution in 2023, you were in the elevated concern category of Ofwat, and yet you have received an additional £371,000, taking your pay to £1,028,000…”

“Chair, I am just reflecting that the webinar, which is the one good bit of comms you have suggested that DEFRA did, was six days afterwards. We have heard that IPAFFS was not updated. It sounds like a light switched on just short of a week afterwards.”

“A lot of us represent communities that still bear the scars of that foot and mouth outbreak so many years ago. It is a very important issue to us. When the news came in from Germany about foot and mouth, how well did the border systems operate? Specifically, if you have knowledge of it, we heard from other stakeholders…”

“I do not know whether there is anything else that you want to say about the impact on importers or drivers. By the way, it sounds like a driver’s life is really awful in the world that you are operating in.”

“Is that something the remuneration committee might consider for the future, bearing in mind the way families are struggling with the cost of living at the moment?”

“Ofwat said, “The company’s proposed policy for executive pay does not meet minimum expectations.” As the CEO, I would hope you would be reflecting back to the committee how important it is that we rebuild that confidence.”

“Then in January, customers are facing, I think, a 28% increase in bills over the next period but there was a similar announcement of an increase in dividend again. Does that seem fair to you?”

“Ofwat said, “The company’s proposed policy for executive pay does not meet minimum expectations.” As the CEO, I would hope you would be reflecting back to the committee how important it is that we rebuild that confidence.”

“Absolutely. My hon. Friend is already proving a powerful advocate for his constituency and for young people. He points out again the issue of red tape and bureaucracy, which we were meant to be getting rid of with the amazing panacea of Brexit. I still wholeheartedly believe in us rejoining the European Union—that is o…”

“The hon. Member talks about ridiculous trade barriers, which we have heard a lot about today. I and other members of the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs were in Dover to see the preparations that the previous Government had made on trade barriers, particularly in relation to agricultural product…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but I think he has proved the point that I made, which is that the people who voted for Brexit were a group who would never be satisfied, because Brexit meant different things to different people. It was whatever illusion—whatever fantasy—people wanted it to be, which is wh…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for introducing this important debate, which proves the importance of the petition mechanism to the public for getting important issues debated in this place. Eight years ago, constituents in Macclesfield voted to remain part of the European Unio…”

“Will the shadow Minister give way?”

“At several points today, we have been transported by Conservative Members to the educational nirvana that supposedly existed under the Tory Government. That is not the memory I have, or the memory that many parents and children have. They, I think, remember the real-terms funding cuts that happened for much of the last…”

“Will my hon. Friend accept an intervention?”