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

Debate between Jerome Mayhew and Catherine Fookes

Committee stage
Thursday 9th January 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Catherine Fookes]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I take the opportunity to welcome the measures in the Bill, particularly those in clause 1, and to thank the Minister for her really swift work. We know all too well the damage that has been done by water companies and agricultural pollution across the UK. That damage has only been exacerbated by years of Conservative failure, allowing for record levels of illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas.

In my constituency of Monmouthshire, we have the majestic rivers the Wye, the Usk and the Monnow. Armies of citizen scientists, co-ordinated by the wonderful Save the River Usk group in Usk with Angela Jones, have been monitoring the river over the past few years. Sadly, it is getting worse and worse. The levels of phosphate pollution in the River Usk are the worst in all the nine Welsh rivers that are special areas of conservation—SACs.

This Labour Government have only been in office for six months, yet we are already taking more action to tackle the scourge of sewage than the Conservative party did—indeed, more than the Conservative party and the Liberal Democrat party did—when they were in government. Instead of obfuscation and delay, we are getting serious action to end the disgraceful behaviour that we have been discussing. That is especially evident in clause 1, which seeks to ban bonuses for water bosses unless high standards of protecting the environment are met. Water bosses must also involve consumers in decision making. In addition, the clause ensures that failing water bosses will no longer be able to be water bosses. This action is essential if we are to hold water company bosses to account and ensure that they act in the best interests of the public and the environment, rather than in the interests of their own pockets.

I am pleased that in Wales we have the not-for-profit water company Dŵr Cymru. Sadly, however, that status has not stopped the company from leaking sewage. In 2023, we had 2,383 sewage dumping incidents in Monmouthshire, which is 2,383 too many. In 2022, chief executive Peter Perry took home £332,000 and a further £232,000 in bonuses, while in the latest financial year Ofwat had to step in and stop the company from paying out £163,000 of bonuses from customers’ money.

I am sure that I am not alone in recognising the injustice of such bosses’ being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonuses while polluting our environment. It is clear to me that significant Government action and regulation is needed, and the clause delivers it. It finally ensures that the polluter pays. I support it wholeheartedly.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

I am pleased to see you in your place, Mr Vickers.

I am not going to speak to the Government amendments; I merely repeat the very good arguments put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest. At this stage, however, I will just express a couple of concerns that I have about amendment 18, tabled by the Liberal Democrats.

I understand the rationale or the intention behind amendment 18; we all want the water companies to pay closer attention to the interests of their consumers. I note in passing that they already have a statutory duty—a consumer-focused statutory duty—but the actions taken by the Conservative Government over the past 14 years to ask questions about the state of sewage discharges and to get information about them, so as to take effective action to bring them to an end, bring with them an additional need.

The hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale highlighted a loss of trust in the water undertakers, and I agree with him on that. There has been a significant loss of trust as their poor behaviour, which was uncovered by the Conservative Administration, has been met with considerable outrage—justifiable outrage—by the Government and by members of the public.

However, I fear that there will be some significant unintended consequences associated with the drafting of amendment 18, relating to the legal obligations of a board member. The hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale referred to those new positions being on the boards of companies. There are legal obligations that apply to all board members and I question whether the representatives of consumers and of the voluntary organisations that have been so active in this area over the past few years would really want to be exposed to the legal obligations of being a member of the board of a plc, because those obligations are significant and onerous.