Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]

Lizzi Collinge Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 16th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Lab)]

I represent Morecambe and Lunesdale, where beauty surrounds and health abounds. It is the home of Morecambe bay and the River Lune—just two of the fantastic waterways that contribute to the health and enjoyment of my constituents. However, under the last Conservative Government, those waterways have been filled with pollution. Earlier, the shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), mentioned wanting some facts. Well, here’s a fact for her: in 2023 alone, Morecambe and Lunesdale saw 13,500 hours of sewage discharges. That this was allowed to happen is an absolute scandal. Water bosses were allowed to walk off with huge bonuses while people in Morecambe bay found themselves swimming in raw sewage. Again and again, the law has been flouted by water companies and not enforced by the Conservatives, but now we have a Labour Government who will not only enforce the law, but strengthen it.

Morecambe bay is an ecologically special place. It is a site of special scientific interest and a bird watcher’s paradise, as a sanctuary for over 240,000 birds each year. Unfortunately, we do not have time for all the interesting bird facts that I prepared. [Hon. Members: “Ah!”] In Arnside and Silverdale, we have—

[Josh Fenton-Glynn]

Will my hon. Friend tell me about her local aviary life?

[Lizzi Collinge]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Between March and July, rare and declining bird nesting species, such as the ringed plover, oystercatchers and the Arctic tern lay their eggs on Morecambe bay’s shores. Morecambe bay is also a vital stopover point for migrating birds, offering them a place to rest and refuel. Little terns, with their distinctive face-markings and beaks, will travel 20,000 miles on their migratory journeys so that they can breed in Morecambe bay. In Arnside and Silverdale, we have our beautiful natural landscape and wetlands, which are home to diverse wildlife. Those habitats rely on robust water quality standards to thrive, making the provisions in the Bill absolutely crucial for my constituency.

My constituents have made it clear to me that they expect the Government to take action where the Conservatives failed. The Bill’s key measures include blocking executive bonuses for companies that pollute our waterways, imposing automatic fines for offences, prosecuting company directors for negligence, and mandating the real-time monitoring of overflows. The Bill also requires companies to publish annual pollution reduction plans, and strengthens oversight by regulators. Only through those measures can we protect waterways and keep Morecambe bay and the River Lune clean for future generations. I urge colleagues across the Chamber to support the Bill.

Fly-tipping

Lizzi Collinge Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd September 2024 Westminster Hall

[Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of fly-tipping.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford, in the first Westminster Hall debate that I have secured since being elected the MP for Ealing Southall. I have chosen the very important issue of fly-tipping for this first debate.

After 14 years of chaos from the previous Conservative Governments, we have an NHS in crisis, an economy that came close to collapse, communities living in fear of crime and a failure to act on the threat of environmental breakdown. My constituents in Ealing Southall recognise that fixing the NHS, putting police back on our streets, tackling the climate crisis and kick-starting growth in the economy need to be the new Government’s first priorities. However, for many of my constituents, it is what is outside their front door that matters most.

Let us imagine walking out of our homes every day to see a big pile of black sacks, broken furniture and kids’ toys at the corner of our streets. That is not the first thing we want to see on our way to work. Then, let us imagine we have invited our family or some friends around that evening. It is embarrassing to ask people to pick their way through sacks of rubbish and furniture when they come to visit. As one of my constituents told me,

“It’s disheartening to go out of your house.”

Another told me:

“I dream of the day I don’t have to pick my way through piles of rubbish to get down the street.”

[Lizzi Collinge (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Lab)]

In my constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale, communities in Morecambe in particular are blighted by fly-tipping. I have noticed the damage that has done to their feelings of community pride. When someone treats people’s streets like a rubbish dump, it makes those people feel like rubbish. I thank my hon. Friend for recognising the psychological impact on communities. Does she agree that there is a deeply psychological impact and that this is not merely a matter of street cleansing?

[Deirdre Costigan]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. She is certainly right: that, too, is the experience of my constituents in Ealing Southall, where they have very much said that this is an issue of pride in their community. Much research has also been done on what is called the “broken windows syndrome”, in which fly-tipping also encourages crime and antisocial behaviour. My hon. Friend is certainly right in that regard.

My residents in Ealing Southall have identified Beaconsfield Road and Bridge Road, along with George Street in Hanwell, as key hotspots, but there many more. In fact, more than a million cases of fly-tipping are recorded every year in this country. Of course, many will not be recorded at all as communities just give up. One third of all fly-tipping takes place in London and eight London authorities were in the top 10 areas with the highest number of fly-tipping incidents in England, according to the most recent statistics. I am afraid to say that all too often it is the poorest areas of the country that are most likely to face such issues. That is due to overcrowded housing and a lack of outside space for bins, which are particular issues in London.

There are some great organisations fighting the scourge of fly-tipping. In Ealing, LAGER Can, whose representatives are here today watching the debate, does amazing work in partnership with the council—not just to clear litter, but to clear and report fly-tips. Nationally, Keep Britain Tidy has strenuously campaigned on the issue. The previous Government periodically announced new crackdowns on fly-tipping, but has that made a difference? I do not think my constituents in Ealing Southall noticed any improvements in 14 years of that Government’s supposed crackdowns; in fact, it is clear the problem has got worse.

Why did the previous Government fail to get a grip on the issue? First, only about 1% of fly-tips result in a court prosecution. That is because councils lost about two thirds of their funding over 14 years of Tory austerity, so they cannot afford to pay for the detailed and expensive investigations needed to take a fly-tipper to court. Even if they do try to take a fly-tipper to court, the average fine is only about £500, which does not pay the council’s costs. It is much quicker and cheaper for the council to just pick up the fly-tip. That solves the immediate problem, but of course people then start to think, “Well, I can dump my mattress or these few bags of rubbish on the corner because the council will pick them up.”