Business of the House
Debate between Will Forster and Lucy Powell(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend is absolutely right: the way our water industry has been run over recent years is absolutely shocking, with shareholder dividends being paid out over and above infrastructure spending and addressing discharges and other things in our waterways. It is absolutely shocking, which is why this Government have brought in the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which is about to receive Royal Assent and will stop erroneous bonuses. We have established a new Independent Water Commission, and there are further reforms coming, but I will ensure that the House is kept fully up to date.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
The main road through my constituency of Woking has been closed for the fourth time in short succession following cladding falling off a hotel. Cladding fell off it during construction, and has fallen off it since it opened. The developer, Sir Robert McAlpine, is responsible and seems to be in no rush to fix this problem. Will the Leader of the House please agree to hold a debate on the responsibility of developers? If companies prove that they cannot deliver, they should lose the right to work for the public sector.
Lucy Powell
The hon. Gentleman will know that the cladding scandal is a shocking embarrassment for our country, and we still have some way to go in putting that right. The Government set out a remediation action plan just before Christmas—that is on top of the Building Safety Act 2022, which was passed under the previous Government—but we absolutely need to be able to hold freeholders and developers to account when they put dangerous cladding on buildings and refuse to replace it.