Independent Water Commission

Leigh Ingham Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for making that important point. His constituents, just like people right across the country, were last year forced to pay the price of 14 years of Conservative failure, because the Conservatives allowed the companies to pay out millions in dividends and bonuses when that money should have been invested in upgrading infrastructure. I have ringfenced customers’ money so that it will now only be spent on the purposes for which it was intended; otherwise, it will be returned to customers.

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

On Crooked Bridge Road in my constituency of Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages, it has taken the county council far too long to accept responsibility for faulty pipes. The buck has been passed between the council and Severn Trent, and the investigative work will not even start till 1 August. Will the commission consider intervening in cases where the buck is repeatedly passed back and forth in order to ensure that urgent works can get under way?

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend makes an important point: buck-passing should not be allowed to continue. We are moving to new regional structures that will bring together the regulators, customers, advocacy groups, businesses and local authorities—to a place where those kind of issues can be resolved.