Oral Answers to Questions Debate
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Leigh Ingham
Main Page: Leigh Ingham (Labour - Stafford)Department Debates - View all Leigh Ingham's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(1 month ago)
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Emma Hardy
The hon. Member is right to feel outraged at the amount of pollution and the situation with Thames Water. He will have heard the Secretary of State’s comments on what we are doing on Thames Water and her early views on the original deal put forward by the creditors to clean this up. That is why we took action with the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 to bring in tougher regulation, and why just yesterday we announced automatic penalties for companies that continue to pollute.
Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)
The flooding outside Tesco in Stafford is a great example of why holding local authorities to account on drainage really matters. I recently learned that the drains were last cleaned in 2020, during covid; without regular maintenance, they will continue to block. While I am glad that it looks like a fix is finally on its way, routine drain clearance should not require an MP’s intervention. Will the Minister tell me and the House what she can do to ensure that council leadership meets its basic maintenance obligations, before the next rainfall shows that maintenance has not been done again?
Emma Hardy
My hon. Friend is absolutely right: there is no excuse for not maintaining flood defences. The Government need to hold the local authority to account for that. It has had an increased settlement and has the money with which to do the job. I hope that this lack of action by the local authority is noted by voters at the next election.