The debate has been interesting, with more contributions from Government than Opposition Members—but I enjoyed their speeches all the same. The hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) told us that he wrote the briefing for the Opposition. It seemed to consist of, “Here are lots of good things that the Government should have done, which we did not bother to do in our 13 years”, so he should perhaps revisit history a little before he writes his next briefing on this issue.
There are three water companies—Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water and Severn Trent—in my constituency, covering 250 square miles in two different counties. I have had experience of trying to deal with all three, and the experience can be different depending on which water company one has to deal with. I shall speak about my constituents’ experience with some of those companies and make some suggestions to make the consumer experience better, not just for my residents but for all constituents across the country.
We have been lucky and unlucky. We have seen considerable investment in the constituency in recent years, but that came after year after year after year of regular flooding. Bizarrely, over the last year or two, parts of the constituency have faced hosepipe bans because of a lack of water, while other parts have at different times been under several inches, if not feet, of water. Much of it has been surface water, and hence within the remit of the water and sewerage companies. My constituency, apart from a few bumpy bits, is generally very low lying, below the high-tide mark, and consequently most of the communities I represent rely on a pumping system to keep them dry. Where I live, there is a series of very high banks as well as pumping.
We have had some good experiences with Severn Trent, and have welcomed its investment in Westwoodside and Crowle. I have been a key member of the liaison team dealing with that investment. The company has also worked with customers: we have arrived at some solutions, and it has been generally responsive. That has not always been the case, but we have done reasonably well in recent years, and I am grateful for the company’s investment.
In Goole, which is covered by Yorkshire Water, we have had a very different experience historically, although it has improved a great deal recently. Goole has been flooded in at least four or five consecutive years out of the last seven or eight, including 2010 and 2011, when major assets failed in the town. At the time I was at pains to remind the House, and also Yorkshire Water, that sometimes it is the people who pay the bills who are the last to find out when something has gone disastrously wrong.
In 2011, I was in my wellies going from door to door and from street to street, visiting as many places in my constituency as I could. We were under rising water, because our pumping system had completely failed and if our town is not pumped, the water level rises very quickly. Over a period of about 12 to 18 hours, we all saw water levels rising. It was obvious that something had gone very wrong with our pumping system, particularly the big pumping station at Carr lane.
I became very angry when speaking to Yorkshire Water on the telephone, because it was impossible to obtain any answers. The company failed to communicate with residents at what was the most important time for them—when they were being flooded. Many of those people have medical conditions that require treatment, but power was going off, and there was still no communication. When the local authority, East Riding of Yorkshire council, tried to descend on the site, it was initially warned that it would not be allowed to enter, so it had to invoke its powers. All that was completely unacceptable.
Since then the position has changed significantly, thanks to the outcry from me and from local residents, and I am pleased to say that we have had a completely new experience with Yorkshire Water. The company has invested £3.6 million over the last 18 months to improve our pumping capacity by 20%, and 18 December will see the publication of a flood catchment study which it has funded and has cost a quarter of a million pounds.
That is all great news, but I must nevertheless ask why my residents and my constituency were put in such a position in the first place, given that it had been clear
for a number of years that the town’s pumping capacity and the major assets that were meant to protect us were not fit for purpose. Yorkshire Water has tried very hard since then, and I feel very positive about what it has done, but we should not have been put in that position, particularly in view of Yorkshire Water’s dividends. There has been an improvement since 2010—the company’s dividend is now significantly lower in relation to its post-tax profits—but the statistics for 2005, 2006 and 2008-9 were pretty appalling, at the very time when we should have benefited from investment.
Meanwhile, bills were rising in my constituency. The Yorkshire Water household bill, which I pay every year along with other residents, was £264 in 2005. By 2009-10 and 2010-11, when we were under many feet of water owing to that lack of investment and an inability to maintain assets properly, it had risen to £330. Profit for utility companies is something that is established, and I have nothing against it as long as it is accompanied by investment, but the compelling statistics and data presented by my hon. Friend the Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) at the beginning of the debate made clear that all is not well. We need either beefed-up powers for Ofwat, or the creation of further bodies to deal with water companies that are making huge profits while not investing in communities such as mine which are particularly prone to flooding.
Although Yorkshire Water’s profit-to-dividend ratio has improved since 2010, I am afraid that that of Anglian Water is moving in a different direction. I concur with some of the demands Members have made of the Government and the water industry. I hope the Minister will consider introducing new powers to allow companies making excess profits to be ordered to cut bills and to beef up the powers allowing Ofwat to require investment in our infrastructure when these profits are too high. The Government must stand up for consumers.
I was astonished that the hon. Member for Luton South (Gavin Shuker) claimed that because his leader had been making noises about consumer bills, all of a sudden people are concerned about water bills. If the hon. Gentleman had attended past debates or followed what many of us have been doing in our constituencies, he would know we have for many years been complaining about the fact that our constituents are paying more but we are not seeing the return in investment in our infrastructure. I thought that adding that political element into a debate that had generally been consensual was beneath him. In response, I have tried to make a wholly non-partisan speech.
There have been improvements in our area. My hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), who is present and takes a great interest in these matters, will know of the transfer tunnel created in Hull which has helped to protect the Hull catchment a lot better. In Yorkshire, we have seen investments in the pipe network, which was in an abysmal state before privatisation, with massive leakage. We have also seen investment in my constituency.
Some good stuff has been done under privatisation by Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent and Anglian, but we now need somebody to stand up for the consumer where these companies are not acting as responsibly as they should. I hope the Government will respond to this
debate by making sure the powers are in place to ensure these companies act responsibly towards their bill payers, who, after all, provide them with everything they have.
6.26 pm