Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (First sitting)

Dan Aldridge Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 9th January 2025 Public Bill Committees

I strongly welcome the Government moving forward so rapidly with the Bill, particularly its requirement that the regulator can limit or stop bonuses, and can hand out significant consequences in cases of malpractice, including the option of jail time. When I knock on doors and talk to residents, they do not think it is right that crimes can be committed, and that someone can have such disregard for our nature and water system, and that that goes unpunished.

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

As a fellow Member from a coastal town, I echo my hon. Friend’s point about the anger and frustration on the doors from residents in Weston-super-Mare. Over the past decade the quality of water on the three main beaches has got worse and worse, and the bathing water at all three is now classified as poor. The anxiety among every sector of the community is really high, and political point scoring aside, the situation is dire. This week raw sewage was spilled on Uphill beach because of the crumbling infrastructure. I urge the Government—I am pleased we have grasped the nettle—to take on the big challenges.

[Tom Hayes]

I thank my hon. Friend for his important intervention. It is great to see him championing his constituency, and it goes to show why Labour won in so many seaside and coastal towns. The people of those towns and cities trusted Labour to bring forward a Bill such as this as quickly as we have done, and this is just the start of change. As we have heard, more legislation will come forward, but so that we do not delay and wait for the full package, the Minister is bringing forward this action rapidly to respond to the urgent case that is being made on doorsteps all around our country, particularly in our seaside towns.

I have constituents who are livid about the fact that while infrastructure has crumbled, no investment has gone in, and money has gone out the door in bonuses and shareholder payment dividends, bills are rising. That is not just water bills—bills on a whole host of things contribute to the significant cost of living crisis that so many in our country have felt. I welcome the efforts of this Government, and I congratulate the Minister on all the hard work that she and her officials have been undertaking. I very much look forward to seeing further development of our programme of investment.