Independent Water Commission

Helena Dollimore Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

The right hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. Anglers are quite rightly furious about the level of pollution, which is destroying fish and other life in our rivers, but also about the impact of abstractions, particularly from chalk streams, so the new regulator will be engaging with them. Sir Jon has proposed new mechanisms for volunteers and campaigners to engage with the system that were not available previously. We will consult on those in the autumn, and move ahead with legislation following that.

[Helena Dollimore (Hastings and Rye) (Lab/Co-op)]

I really welcome the water commission. The EFRA Committee has had each of the water bosses in, one by one, and each struggled to explain why their industry prioritises bonuses over fixing broken pipes. I therefore really welcome the action that the Government have taken to ban bonuses, starting with the bonus for the Southern Water boss, Lawrence Gosden. We were, however, disgusted to hear last week that he plans to take a doubling in his salary, an additional £690,000, after overseeing major water outages, flooding in Hastings town centre and massive sewage dumping. Does the Secretary of State agree that that is a slap in the face to my constituents, and that Lawrence Gosden should think very seriously about whether he takes that salary increase?

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend, who is such a strong campaigner on the water sector, makes a very important point, which she puts very well. I consider that pay rise to be outrageous, as does she. It turns out that he is receiving that pay increase under a scheme that was permitted by the regulator under the regime that the Conservatives had in place, and the payment he is getting this year relates to the last year of the Conservative Government. We have changed the law so that no similar payment can be made in future.