Business of the House

Chris Bloore Excerpts

Thursday 10th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

Despite being asked to pay more by Severn Trent, residents in Redditch and Wychbold continuously face water outages, as crumbling infrastructure takes days to repair. Despite being on the priority list, many vulnerable residents, including new mums, have been left without bottled water. The benefits of privatisation are seemingly non-existent for my residents in Redditch and Wychbold. Does the Leader of the House share their frustrations, and their sympathy towards a change in ownership model?

[Sir Alan Campbell]

The fact is that the water industry has not been working for people for far too long, and the incident that my hon. Friend raises demonstrates that. That is why the Government are looking at ways to give the public more control and keep bills as low as possible. That is a priority for the new Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the new Prime Minister. On Monday, there will be a petitions debate on a referendum on public ownership of the water sector, which my hon. Friend and others may wish to attend.