Independent Water Commission

Chris Bloore Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

In my view—and Sir Jon Cunliffe also makes this point—it is very important that we align water infrastructure investment with spatial planning, so that we can tackle the kinds of problems that my hon. Friend has referred to. We intend to go ahead with that in England; I have already accepted that recommendation in principle, even ahead of any consultation. Of course, the situation will be different in Scotland, because it has a SNP Government who have not really taken these issues seriously.

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

Residents of my constituency often ask me how we got to a situation in which water company CEOs can oversee record levels of sewage spillage, let our infrastructure crumble and charge hard-pressed customers even more, yet enjoy extortionate bonuses. Does the Secretary of State agree that if this is to be the moment when we turn the page on 14 years of failure, we must never again abandon bill-paying water customers like the previous Government did?

[Steve Reed]

Not only should we never abandon bill payers, but we never will abandon them. We are revolutionising the entire water sector so that customers’ interests are right at the heart of it in a way they have never been before.