Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the new customer panels to hold water companies to account will be selected; and what powers these panels will have.

This government expects companies to provide high levels of service, both for customers and the environment and believes that customers should be at heart of challenging companies on their performance, which is why we have immediately announced that powerful new customer panels will be established. These panels will have the remit to do things like summon members of the executive and hold them to account.

Further detail will be set out in due course.