Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]

Debate between Steve Reed and Nusrat Ghani

2nd reading
Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

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 and promoting economic growth. Sir Jon will be supported by an advisory group covering areas including the environment, public health, engineering, customers, investors and economics. The commission will seek advice from stakeholder groups, including environmental campaigners, consumer champions, water companies, regulators and the public, and it will make recommendations by June 2025. This is our opportunity to completely reset the water industry so that it is fit for the future and can finally move on from the failures of the past.

I want to thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hull West and Haltemprice, who will steer the Bill through this House. I know that she will lead this work with the expertise and passion for which she is well known across the House. No one is better suited to lead our Department’s first piece of primary legislation under the new Government.

This Bill is our chance to right the wrongs that have so angered members of the public up and down the country. Water pollution is not inevitable and it is not acceptable.

Our children and grandchildren deserve to make the same wonderful memories that we did, splashing about in clean rivers, swimming in the sea or playing on the shores of our beautiful lakes, without fear of getting sick. It is time to clean up our water once and for all, and the Bill is an important step in making that happen. Let us seize the opportunity to give this country back the clean rivers, lakes and seas that are our shared birthright.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Storm Bert

Debate between Steve Reed and Nusrat Ghani

Monday 25th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

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

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Finally, I call Jim Shannon.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

Everybody knows that when I am called, it is all over—almost. [Laughter.] I thank the Secretary of State for bringing forward a very positive action plan and strategy. I send my sincere sympathies to those who have lost loved ones, and to those who are particularly anxious, worried and depressed about their properties. That is a serious worry for people who do not know what they will do next.

Will the Secretary of State outline what discussions have taken place with counterparts in the Northern Ireland Assembly to ensure that the Assembly and local communities have the ability to quickly regroup and get a handle on the devastating flooding that has taken place throughout the United Kingdom? I also need to ask him a question that I wish I had the answer to. One of the big questions is about alternative accommodation for those who have been flooded out. Has he been able to give any attention to that question, and if so, will the answers be shared with the people back home?

Rural Affairs

Debate between Steve Reed and Nusrat Ghani

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

If the right hon. Lady will forgive me, I will conclude my speech, because I have taken an awful lot of time and Members will want to have their say.

Rural communities are at the heart of this Government’s No. 1 mission: to grow the economy. Everyone, regardless of where they grow up, should have the same opportunities to succeed in life. We have had to take tough decisions to fix the broken foundations of our economy, but they are part of a Budget that will restore economic stability and begin a decade of national renewal for everyone, everywhere. I welcome this opportunity to set out the facts and figures, and to show why this Budget offers a better future for our rural and farming communities, as we fix the foundations and rebuild Britain.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Independent Water Commission

Debate between Steve Reed and Nusrat Ghani

Wednesday 23rd October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I remember very well and with pleasure the visit to which my hon. Friend refers. I also remember how distressed residents were to see their homes flooded and their possessions destroyed. Very often their homes were uninsurable, because of where they were located. The commission will consider all those factors. My hon. Friend the Water and Flooding Minister and I are also looking at what can be done separately to tackle the scourge of flooding to better protect communities now and into the future.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I will try to get in as many people as I can, so can we please keep the questions and answers as snappy as possible?

[Jess Brown-Fuller (Chichester) (LD)]

The statement from the Secretary of State is welcome, but passionate campaigners in my constituency will be concerned that, when we already know the dire state of our rivers and water courses, a review will potentially push the can down the road and delay the changes that we so desperately need. Will the commission set a deadline by which water companies have to prevent all sewage discharges in sensitive sites, including chalk streams such as the Lavant and Ems in my constituency?