Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill

Andrew Love Excerpts

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Spelman]

Electricity utility bills are the domain of the Department of Energy and Climate Change, rather than the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We are seeking to ensure that people who use water pay for it; it is a question of fairness. Water has historically been treated somewhat differently from other utilities such as electricity and gas, so there might be some differences in the details of the proposals. The hon. Lady will have an opportunity to raise that point as part of the consultation.

This Government are going to get a grip of the issue of bad debt, which is forcing up bills for those who do the right thing and settle their bills on time. We are on the side of those who play by the rules and pay their bills in good faith and, unlike the previous Government, we are going to ensure that their interests are properly served by clamping down on those who do not, or will not, pay their bills.

Despite the considerable progress that has been made on cleaning up our water environment, challenges still remain, not least in the river that ebbs and flows outside these very walls. The House has previously debated the fact that London’s sewerage system is operating close to capacity. We are now at a stage at which waste water containing untreated sewage overflows into the Thames between 50 and 60 times a year, involving an average total of 39 million cubic metres a year. The sewage discharges kill fish and leave litter and debris floating in the water. Because of the tidal ebbs and flows, that debris can take up to three months to reach the mouth of the river, and frankly, it stinks—just ask David Walliams. Hon. Members will recall his Sport Relief challenge last spring to swim 140 miles along the length of the Thames here to Westminster. His challenge should have been the distance, the strong currents and the undertows, not the quality of the water he swam in—water that was bad enough following heavy rain to place his entire endeavour in jeopardy.

We might not quite face the “Great Stink” of 1858, when the stench of sewage led to this House’s curtains being soaked in chloride of lime in an attempt to disguise the overpowering smell and, ultimately, to Parliament being suspended, but the sewer outflows will only get worse with population growth, increased urbanisation and more extreme rainfall events caused by climate change. This, as I am sure all Members will agree, is unacceptable.

We are the world’s seventh largest economy; this is our capital city; this city is a shop window for our entire country—and the status quo is simply not good enough. This Government are going to put the “Great” back in “Great Britain”—a Government who are showing that Britain is open for business and competing globally. That is why we need a 21st century solution, not a 19th century one that would still rely on allowing the Thames to function as a sewer.

[Mr Andrew Love (Edmonton) (Lab/Co-op)]

Over 1 million customers of Thames Water are in what is termed water poverty. The Thames tunnel, which I support, is estimated to cost something in the region of £4.2 billion, putting £1 a week on the bills of Thames customers. What are the Government going to do to ensure that more people will not fall into water poverty as a result?

[Mrs Spelman]

Naturally, Thames Water will be one of the water companies looking at a company social tariff. That provides a means, as with Severn Trent Water and every other water company, of really helping the most vulnerable customers. It is important, too, to put in context what Thames Water customers, probably including some hon. Members, pay now. Unlike South West Water, Thames Water currently has significantly below average water bills. The average combined water and sewerage bill is £356 a year. South West Water ratepayers pay £517 a year, whereas Thames Water’s ratepayers have a combined bill of £319 a year. We are starting with Thames Water’s ratepayers who have a significantly below average bill.

--- Later in debate ---

[Miss McIntosh]

I am sure the Secretary of State, wherever she is, and my hon. Friend the Minister will have heard that point.

[Mr Love]

I, too, express my interest in having a debate on the national policy statement, which is very important. The hon. Lady mentioned the need for an amendable motion, but from speaking to the Minister’s office and the Department’s parliamentary office, I understand that it will be non-amendable. An amendable one would be greatly preferable.

[Miss McIntosh]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and I commend his work in bringing his constituents’ concerns to the Select Committee and continuing to represent them now. Those of us who work in London during the week all wish to see the super-sewer in place, but we understand the length of time that it will take. There has not been an engineering project of that nature since, I think, 1858, and the Committee has no doubt about the impact that the sewer’s construction will have on his constituents and others.

The Committee’s wish, as recorded in our report, is for an amendable motion, and I am delighted that there is support for that. It may be within the gift not of the Minister but of the party managers, and looking further along the Treasury Bench I see how well represented they are today. I am sure that our point will be taken back to the highest possible authorities. I welcome, in passing, the Leader of the House’s commitment to allow more time for this debate.

At the conclusion of her speech, the Secretary of State made some remarks—on which, unfortunately, she would not take any interventions—about the amendment relating to planning, which will be of great interest to the Select Committee and, I am sure, to right hon. and hon. Members who live along the path of the proposed super-sewer. I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will be able to clarify those remarks.

On the waste water national policy statement, the Committee is pleased that the Government’s response to our report set out the areas where DEFRA has accepted our recommendations and consequently amended the NPS—for example, in line with our recommendation that the inclusion of a project in Ofwat’s asset management plan be removed as a criterion of proof of the need for the project.