(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberCongratulations to my hon. Friend on her election. She is absolutely right to be outraged at the level of sewage pumped into our rivers, lakes and seas under the previous Government. I hope that where she saw inaction in the past, she will see this Government taking action right now through our Water (Special Measures) Bill. We will not stand by and allow these levels of pollution to continue.
Of course, we recognise the impacts of the cost of living on all our constituents, but the years of under-investment by the Conservatives mean that we need £88 billion-worth of investment in the industry. Customer bills will be ringfenced under the changes brought about by the Government, and if that money is not spent on infrastructure improvement, it will be refunded to customers. Of course, the final bills are determined by Ofwat, not the Government.
(2 months ago)
Westminster HallWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) for securing this important debate. As for many colleagues, fly-tipping has been one of the top issues in my mailbag since I became an MP. Constituents contact me most days worried about our local environment, public safety and the pride they want to have in their community.
It is easy to talk about fly-tipping as though it is just about rubbish—and it is—but it is a serious blight on our constituents’ lives and health. It can be a serious hazard, such as when it is blocking an emergency exit; in one case I dealt with for a single mother with three children, they had to climb over a fence, a metal barrel and a mattress to get to their home in an emergency. It is a serious public health issue, with massive piles of rubbish attracting rats to my constituents’ property. In any case, it is always an eyesore that lets our area down and damages our sense of community.
In 2022-23, Birmingham city council issued over 270 fixed penalty notices and prosecuted 14 individuals and businesses for fly-tipping, with punishments ranging from fines to community orders. But in a city of over 1 million people that is just not enough.
I represent the neighbouring constituency, and as the hon. Member knows, fly-tipping in Birmingham is becoming an enormous problem. It is almost contagious, starting in the smaller wards, then the inner-city areas and then the outskirts. Does she agree with me that where we have fly-tipping on privately owned land that has shared owners, the city council should remove the hazardous and dangerous build-up? Does she agree that if the council does not act, the Government should intervene to ensure that local councils do remove it?
I thank the hon. Member. On this occasion, because I was at the top of a local council and I know how expensive it is, I feel that the responsibility should be on the private owner to secure their property and to ensure that it is kept free of fly-tipping. If it is not free of fly-tipping, I, Paulette Hamilton, because I worked on a local council, believe that they should work with the local council to try to remove it, but the cost cannot be borne by the council because they have not got the money. I will carry on—