Water Companies

Debate between James MacCleary and Emma Hardy

Monday 8th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue, and I remember hearing about that incident. That is why under this Government, the Environment Agency has carried out over 10,000 inspections of water companies; under the previous Government, the figure was only 4,000, so we have increased the number of inspections. We are also introducing MOT-style inspections so that when the Environment Agency goes into a water company, it can check all the infrastructure, see where the problems are and get the company to tackle them before another awful incident such as the one my hon. Friend has described occurs, where sewage ends up in the wrong place, causing damage to our environment.

[James MacCleary (Lewes) (LD)]

Villagers in Rodmell in my constituency have been without water or had low water pressure for weeks—including during the recent heatwave—with little or no communication from South East Water. Just up the road in Ringmer, residents are really concerned about large-scale house building plans, with little account being taken of the need for additional water infrastructure despite pre-existing problems. Can the Minister tell me what action she is taking to press water companies to communicate properly with customers during outages. May I also press her again on water companies being statutory consultees in the planning system?

[Emma Hardy]

The hon. Gentleman is right to say that South East Water’s communication with customers was frankly not good enough, and nor was its communication with Members of Parliament. One thing we are trying to do through DEFRA is to support the work with the local resilience forum to look at how we can improve that communication, so that everybody knows what is happening and when. That way, we can work as a coherent unit, rather than having miscommunication between the different parties involved.

To repeat an answer I have already given, through the water delivery taskforce, we are looking at planning, water supply and waste water supply together when ensuring we build the homes our country needs. I say “our country”, but it is about building the homes that our people—families, adults and children—need. When we talk about house building, we forget about the number of people living in overcrowded accommodation. I am yet to have a conversation with somebody living in overcrowded accommodation who says no when I ask, “Would you like to live in a home rather than the overcrowded one-bedroom flat you are currently in?” Let us remain focused on the families who desperately need the homes we are building. As a responsible Government, we will build them in a way that does not put extra pressure on our water system.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between James MacCleary and Emma Hardy

Thursday 4th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

I commend my hon. Friend for his successful championing of this issue on behalf of his constituents. I know how much it means to his community to have such boats removed. It is an important issue, and I am more than happy to follow up with the Canal & River Trust in order to understand if it needs any additional tools to continue and complete this work around the country.

[James MacCleary (Lewes) (LD)]

T5. I recently spoke to David, who farms near the village of Berwick in my constituency. He told me that he has recently given up raising livestock altogether due to the lack of local abattoirs—his nearest option is well over an hour away. What action are the Government taking to support new and existing abattoirs, so that farmers across the country who are in a similar situation to David do not stop raising livestock too?