I, too, welcome this Bill. As a firm believer in the adage that there are no coincidences in politics, I would go so far as to say that its existence is having an impact before it hits the statute book, because just as these amendments were being proposed in the Lords, the news came to my constituency and that of my hon. Friend—my very good friend—the Member for Clwyd South (Susan Elan Jones) that our local water company, Dee Valley Water, was the subject of a takeover bid from Severn Trent Water. I suspect that the takeover bid is not unconnected to the existence of the clauses that will give more powers and a greater role to Wales, the Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government. I suspect that, with the transfer of regulation and accountability from the UK Government to the Welsh Government, it will be much more difficult to advance the present policy course as the Severn Trent bid is being made.
3.45 pm
I cannot say too much about that bid, because it will be in court tomorrow; it is, of course, the most important court case that is taking place this week. What I will say is that I am a great believer in local accountability and local services. We have in Wrexham a great water company, Dee Valley Water, which employs more than 300 people. The workforce, to my knowledge, are united in their wish for the Severn Trent bid to be rejected. Because water is a monopoly, the role of regulators—there are and will continue to be two regulators involved in the process, namely Ofwat and the Competition and Markets Authority—is crucial. The regulators have let me down, as a Member of Parliament and a local customer, and they have let down the workforce and the community. The Government have also let the community down by
standing aside while a very good, efficient local business is taken over by a much larger business in what I regard as a predatory way. The workforce are very worried about their future.
I do not want to be part of a customer base that pays into a pot to pay the chief executive of Severn Trent Water a salary of £2.4 million per annum. I think that is completely out of touch with the people I represent, and I do not think it is an appropriate course. I do not agree either with our having one less water company as a result of the proposed takeover. That means that we will have less competition and fewer benchmarks against which to measure water companies on price and quality. I am disappointed that the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofwat have not got involved and that they have not referred the matter to a stage 2 inquiry so that it can be looked into in more detail.
The Government have let down local people in Wrexham and Chester, where Dee Valley Water supplies water, and the regulators have let the people down. The proposals in the Bill are very welcome indeed, but I wish that they had been introduced a year ago. If they had been, the people of the community that I represent would have been listened to by a Government who had influence and authority and who would have exerted influence to prevent the predatory takeover of our local business, which is serving our community well and being let down badly by the proposal.