Water Bill

On the issue of fracking, I have made it absolutely clear that we will in no way dilute or dimini...

My constituency has a place called Barton Moss, which is to be explored for shale gas. It is next...

I have sympathy with the hon. Lady’s question; I have mosses in my own constituency. Let me reass...

rose—

I hope that the hon. Lady will not mind if I carry on, as the debate is about the Water Bill rath...

My right hon. Friend will know, as a fellow Shropshire MP, that there is significant flooding in ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and neighbour for his question. I shall come on to that in a minu...

As somebody who strongly welcomes the introduction of competition, why will not the Secretary of ...

As my right hon. Friend knows, I have total sympathy with that position. I am quite clear that as...

The Secretary of State will know that there has obviously been general support for a clean Thames...

I am fully aware that that is a matter of enormous interest to the right hon. Gentleman and his c...

My right hon. Friend says that we are going to improve the nation’s ability to capture and store ...

I will be moving on to that. I cannot tell my hon. Friend exactly where the new reservoirs will b...

I am fully aware that in the south-west we have significantly higher water rates—probably the hig...

I have no doubt at all that we want more efficient water companies with more investment, which un...

I take the right hon. Gentleman’s point about expanding the market and the smaller companies. How...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that interesting question. We would be happy to meet the Canal & R...

On that point, will my right hon. Friend clarify something for me? What is a new source of water?...

A new source of water is one that is not currently being used, so that could mean opening up old ...

The Secretary of State has just referred, as he did earlier in his speech, to “this country”. Whi...

Well, water lands on the whole of the United Kingdom. The hon. Gentleman is probably referring to...

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for giving way once again—we are teasing out important po...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely spot on. We used to have heavy industries in our cities that u...

I applaud the Secretary of State’s notification that Northumbrian Water is doing great work at Ho...

It is known as the market; where there is demand, people will invest. We are hoping to create a n...

Will my right hon. Friend give way on that point, because it is such an interesting topic that I ...

indicated assent.

Over the past 30 years, these so-called experts, particularly the water companies, have destroyed...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his statement. I assure him that I take on board the damage t...

I want to take my right hon. Friend back to his example of the brewery. He says that we will bene...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: there is no point in over-abstracting from a new source. Howe...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I am happy to give way.

I thank the Secretary of State for giving way, although he does not look overly happy to be doing...

I am happy to answer the hon. Lady. We are completely clear that we will not allow the procedure ...

If we really want to improve environmental stewardship, I would argue, as others have done to the...

I am grateful to the Committee Chair for all her hard work. We have looked at the issue and belie...

Has the right hon. Gentleman had any discussions with his colleagues in the Department for Commun...

Our planning guidance is absolutely clear that there should be no building on areas that are subj...

My right hon. Friend is being generous in giving way, as is his custom. In addition to those comm...

That issue is really for the Environment Agency, which works closely with the Highways Agency and...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I think that this will be the last time that I give way.

The Secretary of State rightly says that we have discussed flood insurance for a considerable tim...

The hon. Lady takes rather a churlish attitude, as her Government did absolutely nothing to repla...

My constituency is at massive risk of flooding because it is below sea level in many places. We r...

It is not our proposal to include those whose houses were built after 2009 if they were built on ...

Despite the sensible measures that are contained in the Bill, this is a wasted opportunity to tac...

I am very grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for giving way. It might rather spoil her arg...

At the risk of breaking my earlier promise to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will give way once mor...

This rewriting of history is wonderful. The effort to get bills down in the south-west, led in no...

The hon. Lady and I know each other well, and I certainly would not be so churlish as to deny the...

This is one of those occasions when there are Members with enormous experience of the subject und...

Can the hon. Lady tell us exactly what her Government did, in the 12 years when they had the chan...

Their first review cut water bills, even in the south-west, and then, admittedly, as my hon. Frie...

The Government are to be commended for all they have done with regard to securing our water suppl...

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly important point. As chairman of the Truro and Kenwyn neigh...

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. It is always nice to get support.

The Bill sin...

I want to speak specifically to clause 47, which is 11 lines long and introduces the new flood in...

On the hon. Lady’s first two points, she might like to know that the all-party group on insurance...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. I think there is widespread concern ab...

What a surprise to be called so early in the debate, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I am delighted to ...

They could sell it.

They could sell the water, but the truth is that it is extremely expensive to cart water around t...

The Bill does not excite people or generate much interest outside the House. Right hon. and hon. ...

I am following the hon. Lady’s contribution with great interest, and she is a leading member of t...

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention and I will take up that offer. I was being glib when ...

I declare an interest as the riparian owner of a small stretch of the headwaters of the River Itc...

I agree with my hon. Friend that water abstraction is complex and that it does obvious damage—tha...

Who could possibly disagree? That is clearly one consequence that we need to reform shortly. I wi...

I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend th...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. Is it not the case that if homeowners cannot get insu...

Many of my constituents who live in the areas affected by flooding have a particular problem gett...

I thank my hon. Friend for her tireless campaigning on this subject. She has worked with Members ...

I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments.

I ask the Minister to look at South East Cornwall as a...

I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests and...

My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. Should we not be ensuring that we do not build new pro...

That is a much better proposition than telling someone in a property built in 2010, “Flood Re is ...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff North (Jonathan Evans). In...

The hon. Gentleman, who represents a constituency not far away from mine, makes some very good po...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for those comments. There is widespread acceptance that sustainability...

At the risk of being slightly parochial, may I ask whether the hon. Gentleman finds it odd, given...

I think that it will come as no surprise to the hon. Gentleman that I am not only a customer of W...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Roger Williams),...

On making flood insurance available for properties most at risk, does the hon. Gentleman agree th...

I certainly agree and the hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point, which I will cover in the next...

I apologise for not being present for the opening of the debate; this was because I was attending...

Does my hon. Friend agree that failure to dredge does not often result in a cost to those who sho...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It would be so much better if we could get the dredging progr...

It is a pleasure to respond to this debate on behalf of the Opposition. We have had a good and li...

The hon. Gentleman is right to focus on cost of living issues. We also accept that they are impor...

I will come on to that point in just one moment. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Shields m...

Will the hon. Gentleman enlighten us on his proposals? We have heard an awful lot about the probl...

If the hon. Lady shows a bit of patience, she might hear more detail from us than we heard today ...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I look forward to debating many of these ...

Oh dear me; the Minister has obviously forgotten his own position. He will still be a member of t...

Has the hon. Gentleman any estimate of the cost of introducing competition in Scotland, where it ...

The hon. Gentleman indicated that he is looking forward to serving on the Bill Committee, so we c...

I particularly welcome that last comment from the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thom...

We heard about the real-terms cut applied by the previous Government. Do we know the average annu...

We saw bills cut for a period, but then they went back up again. If we talk to our constituents a...

At least half my constituency is supplied by Thames Water. There are consistent rumours that it i...

Companies in water-stressed areas will be able to push people towards meters. Of course, new prop...

The population of this country is forecast to grow by 8 million or 9 million, and most of that gr...

I agree that, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State said, we need to capture more of thi...

In terms of capturing water, is my hon. Friend going to deal with SUDS and surface water, because...

I had a premonition that I might get such an intervention from my hon. Friend, the Chair of the S...

An awful lot of gibbering and jabbering and yibbering and yabbering is going on on the Opposition...

Very little, I think is the answer. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention.

Dealin...

The Minister has given an undertaking that those new clauses will be available for scrutiny by th...

It is my intention that they will be available for the Committee to look at as soon as possible, ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way; he is being very decent with his time. Will he confirm...

We would be much further forward had the previous Government done some of this work before they l...

Will the Minister give way?

I am sorry, but the hon. Lady has not been present for most of the debate and I need to make prog...

Before the Bill goes into Committee, may we lay one myth to rest? We can probably all point to de...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. House building has not been at its fastest recently, so the v...

The Minister is obviously talking about bits of the Bill that do not yet exist and which the Hous...

Over the spending review period as a whole, the investment will be bigger, and we will see the nu...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way for a final time.

In the remaining six minutes, will the Minister say whether he is minded to consider that the reg...

I am happy to consider that. The case for such a duty has been made by Members on both sides of t...

The right hon. Gentleman appears to be making a second speech. The previous Government were the o...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will finish dealing with the Secretary of State’s point before I give way to anybody else. He n...

rose—

I will not give way until I have finished answering the point the right hon. Gentleman has alread...

With 40% of low-income households paying some of the highest bills, and three-quarters of our riv...

I have some sympathy with the first part of the hon. Lady’s intervention, but perhaps less so in ...

I am interested in the Opposition’s argument. What reduction in bills could the extra powers that...

I will say a little more about what extra powers I think the regulator should have, and perhaps a...

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way again. The fact is that the previous Government let...

The right hon. Gentleman clearly has great faith in Mr Cox, and we will see in due course whether...

The hon. Lady has been on her feet for some time and I am looking forward to hearing of her visio...

If the hon. Gentleman is slightly more patient, he will hear what I have to say in the rest of my...

The hon. Lady will recall that the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 contained provisions for s...

The hon. Lady has a point, and I will shortly say something about what I believe we ought to do a...

rose—

I will give way to the former Secretary of State.

For the benefit of the House, it is only fair to explain that there are two ways that the most vu...

The right hon. Lady is correct. I was about to mention WaterSure in my next breath, if she had wa...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will give way to the hon. Lady in a moment.

It is essential that the cost to households o...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs should implement the provisions ...

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. The Secretary of State was generous with his time. I c...

Order. That is not a point of order; it is a point of debate. The hon. Lady knows full well that ...

We cannot have a situation where water companies are taking strategic decisions, with the clear p...

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. She makes an important point about the behaviour of the wat...

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. I do not believe the Labour Government did enough during...

The hon. Lady has made some candid remarks about the last Government’s failure and some sensible ...

The hon. Gentleman is entitled to his opinions.

The three reviews built on the Flood and Wa...

May I take the hon. Lady back to the question of exits? We looked carefully at this, and I believ...

I am of course interested to hear the views of the hon. Gentleman who was, until recently, a well...

I welcome the Bill and would like to thank both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and t...

Given that the Flood Re scheme does not apply to properties built after 1 January 2009, does the ...

I am grateful for the intervention, but I think the hon. Lady misses the point that so many other...

Proposals for new housing in Goole pose the double threat of river and surface water flooding, an...

I hope that we will all continue to press the Government to proceed with the SUDS.

As for a...

Does my hon. Friend agree that not only is mapping important, but it is important for maps to be ...

My hon. Friend has eloquently re-emphasised the point that I was making.

Does the hon. Lady share my concern about the fact that the Environment Agency will not be produc...

I do regret the amount of time that it is taking.

The Select Committee was very disappointe...

I agree wholeheartedly that drainage boards could do much more work. The money that they spend of...

I am sure that the whole House, including the Secretary of State, has heard what my hon. Friend s...

My hon. Friend made an important point about dredging. It is essential to ensure that unnecessary...

I thank my hon. Friend for that.

I want to mention briefly some new aspects of the Bill and...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh). As Chair of the...

Is the hon. Lady aware that last autumn in the south-west, we had a massive amount of rain that a...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, and that is exactly the point I am maki...

The hon. Lady is describing the model used by Welsh Water, a not-for-profit company that is respo...

Indeed. One difficulty is that we are looking at the provision of water for the whole of the Unit...

We are talking about non-distributable profit. Any profit that is made is reinvested in the syste...

That just shows that there are all kinds of different ways of looking at this, and that we do not...

I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Member’s Financial Interests. It is a great p...

I thank my hon. Friend for all the work he has done in this area and for his expertise. I hesitat...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for her intervention. If I felt a degree of paternalism towards t...

I represent Northumberland—probably the wettest county in England—and we should probably have hel...

There is provision in the Bill to establish an inset regime and allow new entrants to design inno...

Like other Members, I thank my hon. Friend for all the work that he did on the Bill when he was M...

My hon. Friend is right. I see this in household terms: my simple view is that if a builder wants...

I am listening with interest to the hon. Gentleman’s comments, given his experience. Does he have...

I understand the hon. Lady’s point, which is justifiable, but if she is involved further in the m...

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for the work that he did on the flood insurance scheme. Does ...

I entirely accept that. It will be the job of future Governments to see where this all goes, but ...

rose—

Order. Before I call the next speaker, I should point out that a significant number of hon. Membe...

I will certainly bear your comments in mind, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to follow the...

I cannot help pointing out that the former Member for Ceredigion served with great distinction on...

Indeed. I was aware of that. He is a friend of mine and I think highly of him.

My party’s s...

The hon. Gentleman will know that price rises since Glas Cymru was formed in 2001 and up to the p...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Provision of water in Wales is a difficult matter. The geo...

It may please you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the rest of the House to know that I do not intend t...

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has misled the House inadvertently, because he will know that L...

And the hon. Gentleman will know that the coalition Government acted to take £50 off bills in the...

Will my hon. Friend confirm that his party, which represented all six seats in Cornwall under the...

As with everything my hon. Friend says, her question was good in part—the first part was very goo...

rose—