Oral Answers to Questions

Imran Hussain Excerpts

Thursday 14th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Robbie Moore)]

I was glad to visit Colwick and meet residents along Vale Road to hear about the impact of recent flooding, not only on them but on residents of the wider area. I will continue to work with my hon. Friend and with Nottinghamshire County Council. This is not the only area that he is interested in; he has also been working with my right hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Mark Spencer) to focus on Lambley and Woodborough as well. That work will build on the £51 million that has already been allocated to Nottinghamshire County Council and is already better protecting 15,000 properties.

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

T7. For my constituents in Bradford, food prices have soared along with the rising cost of living. The increase has recently reached a peak of 19.1%—the biggest in almost 50 years—making it increasingly difficult for families in Bradford to make ends meet. What does the Minister have to say to my constituents, who are now paying far more for their weekly shop, not just because of inflation but because the Tory Government have failed over 14 years to implement a proper food strategy to support UK farmers, and have put in place damaging barriers to trade with the rest of Europe?

--- Later in debate ---

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

6. Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on UK compliance with international humanitarian law in the context of the International Court of Justice’s order in the case on the application of the genocide convention in Gaza.

[The Attorney General (Victoria Prentis)]

Regulars at Attorney General’s questions know that the Law Officers convention prevents me from disclosing outside Government whether or not I have provided advice and the specifics of that advice. Colleagues also know that I take seriously my obligations to ensure that the Government are acting in a lawful manner on both domestic and international fronts.

[Imran Hussain]

I have listened to the Attorney General, and she will know that the UK Government, as a signatory to the genocide convention, have a clear responsibility not only to punish but—under article 1—to undertake to prevent genocide, as one of the gravest crimes under international law. Given that the Government will still sell arms to the Israeli military after the International Court of Justice found the actions in Gaza to be plausibly in breach of the genocide convention, what legal advice has she provided to the Foreign Office that allows her to fulfil the legal obligation to prevent genocide at the same time as selling arms? If the ICJ ultimately rules that it is genocide, and it is proven that civilians have been killed by UK-sold arms, does that not leave the UK complicit in genocide?

Water Companies: Executive Bonuses

Imran Hussain Excerpts

Tuesday 5th December 2023 Commons Chamber

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

The right to clean water is one of the most fundamental, and that is why this debate is very important to my constituents. I rise to support the excellent case put forward from the Opposition Front Bench today. It is interesting to note that, in a debate as important as this, only one or two Government Members have bothered to turn up, and that the majority of their contributions, including those of Ministers, have focused on what happened 13 years ago under the Labour Government. When they start with that, they have already lost their case. It is convenient for them to somehow forget the 13 years that this Government have been in charge. They seem to forget the 13 years of a lack of regulation and inspection, the 13 years in which they hollowed out the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the 13 years of halving the funding, the 13 years of millions in bonuses being paid to water bosses and the 13 years in which families in our constituencies have had rises in their water bills effectively to support that.

Labour Members have spoken about how, in recent years, our rivers, coastlines and waterways have been polluted by the dumping of raw, untreated sewage, with over 800 sewage dumps a day across the country last year. In Bradford, sewage was dumped 5,200 times in 2022, putting us in the top 10 regions for sewage dumping.

Although we are wholly landlocked, one of Yorkshire's major rivers, the River Aire, runs right through the Bradford district, and it is here that the majority of dumping incidents take place, according to the Rivers Trust. In the constituency of the Minister, the hon. Member for Keighley (Robbie Moore)—I welcome him to his place—an outlet near Riddlesden recorded 96 spillages totalling more than 1,000 hours, and an outlet near Bingley recorded 69 spillages totalling more than 800 hours. In my own constituency, an outlet at Apperley Bridge recorded 96 spillages totalling almost 600 hours.

Although dumping directly into rivers has sadly become expected under this Government, the scale of dumping into smaller tributaries, becks and streams in my constituency is particularly alarming. In 2022, sewage was dumped 59 times into Fagley beck, 41 times into Bolton beck, 110 times into East brook, 36 times into Haigh beck and 75 times into Carr beck, all of which are watercourses that run through or along the back of residential estates. And that is just what has been recorded—the actual number of incidents in which sewage has been dumped in Bradford is potentially far higher.

Given the scale of sewage dumping across Bradford, my constituents are asking just what Yorkshire Water is doing to tackle it. The answer? Hiking water bills by an average of £111 in 2023-24, to pass the cost of the urgently needed sewer upgrades, following years of failing to invest properly, directly on to families in my constituency, even as it paid out £62 million in dividends to other businesses in its parent group.

Although the chief executive of Yorkshire Water has reported that she will voluntarily refuse a bonus that would have been as high as the eye-watering figure of £800,000, she still receives a staggering base salary of £515,000 on top of £140,000 in relocation expenses. This makes it clear that, in the week that Yorkshire Water has been forced to pay a record £1 million civil sanction by the Environment Agency, this public relations decision is not as principled as it first seems.

When water company chief executives and directors have presided over an unprecedented wave of sewage dumping while pocketing huge salaries and bumper payments, and when the Government have proven themselves completely incapable of tackling the crisis and holding water companies to account, it is obvious that something has to change. They should start by empowering the water regulator, Ofwat, to ban the payment of bonuses to the bosses of water companies that pollute our rivers, lakes and seas, and they should end by shutting down the monopoly and stranglehold of privately owned water companies on our water network by taking them into public control and ownership, where they belong.

Oral Answers to Questions

Imran Hussain Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. As she knows, we recently designated an additional 23 marine conservation zones, taking the total to 50 around the country. In addition, we have a network of sites of special scientific interest, special areas of conservation and special protected areas. She makes an important point that, in those designations, we have to balance the needs of fishing with the needs of the environment. That is what we intend to do.

[Imran Hussain (Bradford East) (Lab)]

T2. The Secretary of State has rightly acknowledged the need for better management of land upstream and water catchment areas in preventing floods. What concerns does she have about the burning of heather to improve grouse moors in upstream areas, where it reduces the ability to retain water?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We want management of entire catchments to reduce the flow going into our towns and cities, and to ensure that more farmland is protected. That is part of our 25-year environment plan that we are currently developing. The important thing to acknowledge is that the schemes we announced yesterday in the Budget will be looked at on a catchment basis. We are looking not just at Leeds, but at the entire Aire catchment.