We have been speaking about this. I hear what my right hon. and learned Friend is saying, and I am listening. I am going to say that there is a dialogue, but I will leave it at that. However, there is so much more that will help with this issue, and the wider issue of water pollution, than what is in this Bill. I think he would agree that there are a lot of water issues to be dealt with that the water companies will be held to account for. One of the very strong things we are doing, which is not in the Bill, is producing our draft policy statement to Ofwat, the regulator. For the first time ever, we have put at the top of the agenda that it will have to get the water companies to address storm sewage overflows. I think we would all agree that they are necessary in an emergency, but they have been used far too frequently. I hope by all of this we are demonstrating what are doing, and that is why I am taking so long going through it. It has not started right now—well, not all of it—but when it does start, it will make a huge difference to the progressive reduction of harm.
Environment Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Rebecca Pow
(Conservative)
in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 20 October 2021.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Environment Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
701 c842 
Session
2021-22
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Librarians' tools
Timestamp
2021-11-24 20:51:32 +0000
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