Parliamentary search - Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill

Type

Parliamentary proceeding

Reference

542 c266-340

Session

2010-12

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Legislative stage

Committee stage, Third reading and Report stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Commons chamber

Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill. Explanatory notes Bill 299-EN also published.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Bills
House of Commons

Proceeding contributions

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c270-1 (Link to this contribution) I followed the arguments of the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) very closely, and I went ...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c269-70 (Link to this contribution) I will not test your patience, Mr Hoyle, by continuing that debate. The hon. Gentleman puts his case...

Show all contributions (105)

Dan Rogerson | 542 c269 (Link to this contribution) I am intrigued that the hon. Gentleman wants to have a debate about tax credits, as we recently had ...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c268-9 (Link to this contribution) The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that when the power under clause 1 is triggered, there is ...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c266 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 1, page 2, line 2, at end insert—

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c268 (Link to this contribution) The amendment is defective in that there would be regulatory implications in respect of Ofwat, but t...

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c266 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 1—Water company social tariffs...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c266-8 (Link to this contribution) Both the amendment and the new clause deal with the issue of water affordability for customers, but ...

Simon Hughes | 542 c283 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 4, page 3, line 3, at end insert—

Gavin Shuker | 542 c279-80 (Link to this contribution) The Minister was articulate and charming, but his argument was unconvincing. I am sorry to say that ...

Lord Benyon | 542 c278-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady could lead me down a long path of personal on this subject, which I am happy to share ...

Alison Seabeck | 542 c278 (Link to this contribution) This is slightly tangential. The companies are working to tackle unaffordable water charges, but the...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c275 (Link to this contribution) I thank Madam Chairman—my hon. Friend—for putting that on the record. I am delighted that the Opposi...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c274 (Link to this contribution) I remind my hon. Friend that, as those on the Opposition Front Bench might not be aware, the Select ...

Lindsay Hoyle | 542 c275 (Link to this contribution) Ah, I call Julie Hilling. You were a little late, but I am glad that you have joined us.

Julie Hilling | 542 c275 (Link to this contribution) I apologise, Mr Hoyle, for being a little slow in standing to indicate my intention to speak. You ca...

Lord Benyon | 542 c276-7 (Link to this contribution) As Members know full well, the only purpose for which we currently plan to exercise the power in cla...

Julie Hilling | 542 c277 (Link to this contribution) May I press the Minister a little more on this? When he says ““soon”” does he mean in the next Sessi...

Lord Benyon | 542 c277-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will understand that I am not privy to what is in the Queen's Speech. I very much want...

Matthew Offord | 542 c278 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Secretary of State said that she did not wish to take the credit for some of the amendmen...

Lord Benyon | 542 c278 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. It shows when one prays in aid an organisatio...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c271-2 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful for that clarification. It would be interesting to know the background to the ame...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c271 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Lady's confusion on this point. A number of options are available to us in ter...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c271 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for those remarks. I hope that the Minister will confirm that th...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c271 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making her points clearly, and I welcome the spirit in which she makes them. We hav...

Alison Seabeck | 542 c273 (Link to this contribution) From a south-west perspective, the money we are getting is clearly welcome. As the hon. Gentleman ha...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c272-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hoyle. I follow the hon. Member for Thirsk and...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c273-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is referring to the money identified for the south-west, and the worry that it might, ...

Mary Creagh | 542 c274 (Link to this contribution) I want to reply to the hon. Gentleman's point about league tables. The idea came from Ofwat and is m...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c274 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is very generous in ascribing the idea to Ofwat. I suspect that Ofwat could probably d...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c274 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The water Bill will be a further opportunity for us to revi...

Rory Stewart | 542 c320 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept, as a general philosophical principle, that one should not micro-manage t...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c318 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her warm approach to our amendments and for her suggestion. To be...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c318 (Link to this contribution) Bearing in mind the history of hybrid Bills in this House, and the length of time and the amount of ...

Lord Benyon | 542 c318-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) and his colleagues for tabling the a...

Mel Stride | 542 c319 (Link to this contribution) Is it not also the case that, almost of necessity, Parliament will scrutinise very large infrastruct...

Simon Hughes | 542 c315-6 (Link to this contribution) On that important point, I know from my experience of the Jubilee line extension and other major pro...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c316 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes his point explicitly and brilliantly. If the lessons of the past 20 y...

Rory Stewart | 542 c316-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) has made a powerful case for apprentices and for bett...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c317-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall limit my remarks and take a slightly different view from that of my hon. Friend the Member f...

Lord Benyon | 542 c319-20 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It is worth reminding ourselves of the kind of project that we a...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c339-40 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure for those of us from the south-west to be talking about some measure of help ...

Simon Hughes | 542 c338-9 (Link to this contribution) Briefly, I too welcome our constructive debate over the past few weeks and the Minister's helpful re...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c335-7 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps we should have more of these short Bills as they provoke such agreement between the two Fron...

Neil Parish | 542 c333 (Link to this contribution) I endorse what my hon. Friend says about the Treasury, because the situation in the south-west will ...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c333-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support and I want to record how well represented the Select...

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering | 542 c333 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure and a privilege to follow the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh). We have had ...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c320-1 (Link to this contribution) I thank all Members who have participated in the debate. I listened carefully to what the Minister s...

Matthew Offord | 542 c305-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall comment on the proposals of the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hu...

Jeremy Corbyn | 542 c305 (Link to this contribution) There is a serious danger of many Members agreeing with each other here, which will not do the House...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c307-8 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) raises a number of important i...

Jeremy Corbyn | 542 c301 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend represents a riverside constituency, and therefore must have studied the issue in det...

Jeremy Corbyn | 542 c302 (Link to this contribution) I rise to intervene on my hon. Friend for the last time and to thank him, because I visited the Hamm...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c301-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree, and something that is effectively a large sewer pipe stuck under the River Thames can somet...

Mark Field | 542 c303-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not necessarily regard the proposals as a scandal, as the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and ...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c302-3 (Link to this contribution) Modesty forbids; all I would say, without going into too much graphic detail, is that when I left, I...

Mark Field | 542 c304 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the hon. Gentleman would agree that this is also a reflection of much higher expectation...

Jeremy Corbyn | 542 c304 (Link to this contribution) I missed the first 45 minutes of the speech by the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwar...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c314-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that point from the hon. Gentleman who has joined us in the debate. I ask him to h...

Rory Stewart | 542 c314 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman reflect on the idea that proper debate in the House should be required on tr...

Gavin Shuker | 542 c313 (Link to this contribution) In this final grouping, we seek to improve the Bill by ensuring that the same parliamentary scrutiny...

Simon Hughes | 542 c311-2 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to colleagues who have contributed, from both upstream and downstream. Both banks of t...

Lord Benyon | 542 c308-11 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an entirely legitimate point. It is absolutely Parliament's role to hold debate...

Mark Field | 542 c308 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not accept that legislation is the only mechanism whereby Members can address fu...

Lord Benyon | 542 c308 (Link to this contribution) Everyone in the Chamber recognises that the words ““Thames Water”” appear nowhere in the Bill. Never...

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c313 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment 3, page 3, line 5, at end insert—

Gavin Shuker | 542 c313 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move amendment 2, in clause 2, page 3, line 5, at end insert—

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c312 (Link to this contribution) Order. Shall we wait until we start to discuss those amendments before we start referring to them? T...

Simon Hughes | 542 c295 (Link to this contribution) To turn that into a picture, that could mean that the Thames tunnel will be built by a separate comp...

Mark Field | 542 c292 (Link to this contribution) While the right hon. Gentleman is going through the financial figures, it would be useful to know wh...

Simon Hughes | 542 c290-2 (Link to this contribution) I have sought from Ofwat an explanation of its current policy. I have not sat down with Ofwat to go ...

Mark Field | 542 c295 (Link to this contribution) An issue not specific to this debate is ongoing financial assistance from the public purse for many ...

Simon Hughes | 542 c292-5 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to misrepresent the position, and I do not have with me the full accounts over those f...

Mark Field | 542 c290 (Link to this contribution) It is important that we do not just see this as a problem with Thames Water. This is a fundamental i...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c290 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend is making some excellent points and shedding a little light on fairly shady are...

Simon Hughes | 542 c290 (Link to this contribution) That point is very helpful. I have raised this subject as a matter of general Government policy with...

Andrew George | 542 c288 (Link to this contribution) Bearing in mind that the probity or otherwise of Thames Water is outwith the purpose of the Bill, wo...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c301 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that clarification. I have never signed up to the concept of the tunnel uncritical...

Simon Hughes | 542 c301 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to prolong this unnecessarily, but would like to say clearly that my presumption has a...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c299-301 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that prompt. Local authorities have woken up to the possibility ...

Heidi Alexander | 542 c299 (Link to this contribution) Sustainable urban drainage systems.

Andy Slaughter | 542 c299 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The schemes that he describes, which are collectively known as S...

Jeremy Corbyn | 542 c299 (Link to this contribution) I have met Thames Water and looked at the situation. Pollution of the Thames is totally unacceptable...

Andy Slaughter | 542 c297-9 (Link to this contribution) I will, I hope, be a little briefer than the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Sim...

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c297 (Link to this contribution) The good news is that I am not going to judge the speech or the ring main.

Simon Hughes | 542 c295-7 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point. I should have gone on for another paragraph before I let my hon. Friend i...

Mark Field | 542 c295 (Link to this contribution) One concern with the Thames tunnel is that there is so little incentive for Thames Water to have a c...

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c284 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Amendment 5, page 3, line 3, at end inser...

Simon Hughes | 542 c284-5 (Link to this contribution) This issue is of significant interest to those of us who live in the Thames Water area. Some 20% of ...

Mark Field | 542 c285-6 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman's debate is not entirely abstract, but on amendment 5 how...

Simon Hughes | 542 c286 (Link to this contribution) Some of this is quite technical, but these are important issues. The reason I chose that figure, whi...

Mark Field | 542 c286 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman will be aware that Thames Water is looking to secure a large-scale investme...

Simon Hughes | 542 c286-7 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, Thames Water has a very complicated corporate structure: the graphic pi...

Dan Rogerson | 542 c287 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has set out a number of measures relating to safeguarding public investment. Is...

Simon Hughes | 542 c287 (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the position. I want us to address this now and not to discover, when the system giv...

Mark Field | 542 c287-8 (Link to this contribution) There is plenty of water around the Cayman Islands, but that may not be entirely what Thames Water h...

Simon Hughes | 542 c288 (Link to this contribution) I am not pretending that we are hugely disadvantaged in the Thames Water area at the moment. My coll...

Chair of Committees of the Whole House | 542 c275 (Link to this contribution) I call the Minister—

Mary Creagh | 542 c330-3 (Link to this contribution) I agree that we have had a very good debate on the Bill. This week's drought announcement illustrate...

Lord Benyon | 542 c329-30 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. I begin by thanking all Members who have c...

Simon Hughes | 542 c312-3 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Ms Primarolo, and of course I will. I understand that the Minister realises what the iss...

Simon Hughes | 542 c288-90 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Perhaps it would helpful if, rather than trying to go round the circuit twi...

Andrew George | 542 c274 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a very good point. At the risk of delaying the process of the Bill through ...

Lord Benyon | 542 c320 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. It would be wrong to put in the Bill requirements that might or might n...

Andrew George | 542 c337-8 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate all those Members, particularly those from the south-west, who have contributed and c...

Subjects

Apprentices

Greater London

Infrastructure

Government assistance

Pollution

Water

Water charges

Water supply

Regulation

Water companies

Sewers

South West Water

Thames Water

River Thames

South West

Social tariffs

Legislation

Water Industry (Financial Assistance) Bill 2010-12

Link

View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk