Independent Water Commission

Alistair Strathern Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

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 this Government will ensure that that happens.

[Alistair Strathern (Hitchin) (Lab)]

Many of my constituents share my utter disgust at the way in which water companies have been able to profit from degrading our rivers and chalk streams. It is fantastic to see bonuses already banned at polluting Anglian Water and to see that we are following up by taking action and sacking regulators that were asleep at the wheel. As we start on really ambitious reforms to halve sewage spills over the coming years, how can we ensure that we are tightening up some of those monitoring procedures so that my constituents can see clearly and transparently whether we are feeling the benefits locally?

[Steve Reed]

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.