Business of the House

Tom Rutland Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I am a close neighbour of my hon. Friend, and my husband works in Warrington and uses those roads regularly. I share her frustration that the road networks in the north-west, around our region and across many parts of the north of England are in a poor state, and insufficient to cope with the increased traffic that she mentions. I will ensure that the relevant Minister has heard her pleas, but this subject would make a good topic for a debate.

[Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)]

My constituents in East Worthing and Shoreham, and all those served by Southern Water, face a 47% increase in their bills after years of mismanagement by the company and the previous Government. Will the Leader of the House assure me that the Government will ensure that the additional money that my constituents will be paying will be put into fixing our broken water system, not into the pockets of executives and shareholders?

[Lucy Powell]

Water customers in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and in many others, have been left to pay the price of many years of Conservative failure. The Conservatives allowed water companies to spend billions of pounds on bonuses and shareholder payouts, instead of investing in our crumbling infrastructure. I assure him that the money raised from increased water bills will go to water infrastructure.