Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I could not agree more with the right hon. Gentleman that the centre is a UK national asset. I or the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan), would be pleased to visit to learn more about what it is doing.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking to help tackle pollution in the River Wye.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

The level of pollution in the River Wye is unacceptable and we are working to accelerate progress to tackle it, including by funding a £1 million research programme to identify sources of pollution and develop practical solutions to improve water quality. We are also rolling out early pilots of regional planning, which involved a workshop with stakeholders in the Severn region on 15 May.

[Catherine Fookes]

I thank the Minister for all her hard work on the River Wye, but as she knows, time is running out for that iconic river. With temperatures rising to dangerous levels, our fish stocks will be further affected. The Wye needs a water protection zone across the English and Welsh parts of the river to mandate larger riverside buffer zones, prevent soil erosion and force authorities to crack down on polluters. The proposed clean water Bill could give the Minister an opportunity to bring in a water protection zone, so can she promise today that she will do that and make sure that this Government are the one to save the River Wye?

[Emma Hardy]

I recognise all the important work that my hon. Friend has put into this important campaign, and how much she cares about protecting this beautiful river. We will continue to work with the Environment Agency to explore all the available options, which include, of course, a water protection zone. Any designation must be evidence-led and targeted to ensure that the right measures are in place to tackle pollution effectively and to deliver lasting improvements to water quality.

--- Later in debate ---

[Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)]

2. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for crimes involving violence against women and girls.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

4. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.

[Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)]

6. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for crimes involving violence against women and girls.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Solicitor General]

I commend the bravery and courage of my hon. Friend’s constituent in coming forward, and I am very sorry to hear about the additional trauma that they have faced waiting for justice to be served. As well as tackling the backlog to reduce delays, this Government are committed to supporting victims. In April, I announced an additional £5 million of Treasury funding to offer domestic abuse victims in Crown court cases a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution team. These crucial meetings will support victims in the lead-up to their trial. A similar service is already offered to victims of rape and serious sexual assault, and I am pleased that we are now able to pilot that for victims of domestic abuse in three CPS areas.

[Catherine Fookes]

I spoke recently, at a surgery, to one of my Monmouthshire constituents who had served on a jury in a case in which the victim had been subject to domestic violence. I was horrified to hear that there were only two women on a jury of 12, and that my constituent had heard other jurors victim blaming and making judgmental comments about the victim’s appearance. They were concerned that prejudices may have impacted the outcome of the trial. Of course, I understand that jurors are picked at random, but in cases of violence against women, what more can we do to change the system, so that survivors get the justice they deserve and are treated fairly?

[The Solicitor General]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and for everything that she has done on this important issue. The Government’s landmark strategy to halve violence against women and girls starts with prevention, by focusing on the root causes and designing interventions to tackle outdated societal attitudes. We are investing a record £20 million in education to address harmful attitudes and behaviours head-on, so that young people are taught to identify positive role models, and to challenge unhealthy myths about women and relationships. In trials by jury, the judge gives directions that each juror must evaluate the evidence before them dispassionately, putting aside any bias towards the victim.

Farming Road Map and Profitability Review

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

I will come to fertiliser, but let me first say to the right hon. Gentleman that we are cutting red diesel duty by a third, bringing it to the lowest level in more than 20 years. We are taking measures to help farmers with the increased costs of energy and fuel—[Interruption.] Gosh, there is a wall of sound here, such is the excitement on the Opposition Benches.

We have asked the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to look at more frequent official fertiliser price reporting. We are also doing all that we can to help farmers move away from such high use of fertilisers to more efficient use, along with a longer-term plan to change fertilisers so that British farming can make use of more innovative practices.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for the excellent farming road map that she has laid out. I am really glad to see that supply chain fairness is at front and centre of the new road map, and I welcome the moving of the Groceries Code Adjudicator from the Department for Business and Trade to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as this will make things more joined up.

Farmers in Monmouthshire have raised with me so many times the issue of unfair practices; in fact, five dairy farms there—yes, five—have recently had their milk contracts cancelled. Does the Secretary of State agree that processors and supermarkets have far too much power, and that that power imbalance must be remedied?

[Emma Reynolds]

I do agree that we have to get much fairer contracts, which is why we are extending the fair dealing regulations that already cover dairy and pig farmers to other sectors. As she said, we are also transferring the Groceries Code Adjudicator from DBT to DEFRA to make sure that there is a more joined-up grip on food chain fairness.

Water (Special Measures) Act 2025: Enforcement

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Tuesday 20th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan.

Cleaning up our rivers is one of my top priorities, and I am delighted that the Government agree and have introduced more legislation and action on enforcement in 18 months than the previous Government did in 14 years. I was incredibly pleased to serve on the Bill Committee for the Water (Special Measures) Act—the subject of this debate—with some of the other Members present. The Act sets out, for the first time, a ban on water company bosses’ bonuses, and will ensure that the CEOs of water companies can even face criminal charges and imprisonment.

In Wales, Dŵr Cymru is our not-for-profit water company. However, I am afraid that being not for profit has not stopped it dumping sewage into our much-loved rivers. In 2023, we had a massive 2,383 sewage-dumping incidents in Monmouthshire. In 2022, the then chief executive took home £332,000, and a further £232,000 in bonuses. More recently, Ofwat stepped in and stopped the company paying out £163,000 in bonuses from customers’ money, so that was a step forward.

[Caroline Voaden]

In May 2024, an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in my constituency left 17,000 properties under a boil water notice for as long as two months. Although the incident is the subject of legal investigation, I would like to highlight my constituents’ frustration that the then CEO, Susan Davy, later picked up a share bonus of £191,000, bringing her total package for that year up to £803,000. Ofwat banned six water companies from paying executive bonuses, but I was shocked to see that South West Water was not one of them. Does the hon. Member agree that that is a clear illustration of why Ofwat must be replaced without delay, as it clearly fails to adequately protect the public interest?

[Catherine Fookes]

Our White Paper, published today, deals with the reform of Ofwat, so hopefully we will see an end to that kind of behaviour. In fact, I was just about to say that a total of £9.7 million was paid out in executive bonuses and benefits to water and sewage company executives between 2022 and 2023. The Act will stop bonuses for poor performances.

Let me move on to my favourite topic: our wonderful rivers, which we seek to protect with the Act. I would argue that in Monmouthshire we have some of the finest rivers in the UK. I apologise to my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Joe Morris), but they are much nicer than the River Tyne. The majestic Wye—the birthplace of tourism in the UK—the babbling Usk and the meandering Monnow are all wonderful rivers. They give us our sense of place, they provide recreation in the form of walks, kayaks or swims, and they are a magnet for tourism. They are the backbone of our local economy.

I will never forget the awe I felt when I first saw a flash of blue go past me as I was kayaking down the River Wye, as I saw my first ever kingfisher. It was an incredibly exciting moment. Rivers know no borders, and the Wye runs through four counties and two countries, so we must co-operate to manage it across borders. Fortunately, that is now possible given that we have two Labour Governments working together.

When I was growing up, my parents had no problem with letting me go and cool off by dunking myself in the chalk streams near my house. The only issue was the mess that I made when I came back inside. Now, though, parents have to be fearful of letting their children go in the river. The only thing on which I really agree with the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) is the fact that dogs are now getting seriously ill in our rivers. A wonderful, usually bouncy, sprollie named Tess recently fell seriously ill with E. coli after swimming in the river, only recovering after many weeks of antibiotics.

We all want waterways that we can swim in, and water that is safe to drink and available to us, and we want it at an affordable price, so I am delighted that our two Governments in Cardiff and here in Westminster are working together. I am so grateful to the Minister for all her work and for supporting me in a meeting with the Wye Catchment Partnership and the Welsh Government, which resulted in £1 million for the River Wye action plan, which is just the start of the Wye’s recovery. I also thank all the non-governmental organisations and citizen scientists—the Welsh Rivers Union, Friends of the River Wye, Save the River Usk and the Wye and Usk Foundation, to name but a few—for all their work to help to clean up our rivers.

I am pleased that as well as the Water (Special Measures) Act, the White Paper has been published today, and it aims to overhaul the water system and strengthen regulation. It is the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The Deputy First Minister has confirmed that, following the Cunliffe review, the Welsh Government will publish their vision for water reform in Wales later this year, setting out the next steps and inviting views from others. I welcome the fact that there will be a shared transition plan, co-designed with the UK Government, that sets out the route to a new water system in Wales, and that interim arrangements, including a strategic policy statement for Ofwat and other regulators, will provide clarity during the period of transition.

I thank the Minister and the Secretary of State for all their work so far on this vital issue. I hope the Minister can assure me that the UK and Welsh Governments will continue to work closely on our water courses as, of course, rivers do not heed boundaries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Daniel Zeichner]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. It is exactly why we wanted to improve our relationship with the European Union. We have negotiated and are undertaking further negotiations to improve those systems to very much help people to achieve that. We genuinely believe there are real opportunities here if we can eliminate some of the unnecessary bureaucracy.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

9. What steps he is taking to tackle river pollution.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)]

My hon. Friend will be aware that we inherited record levels of sewage pollution in our waterways from the previous Government. Since the election, we have launched the biggest crackdown on water pollution in history: unfair bonuses have been banned for water company executives, and water bosses who cover up pollution crimes now face up to two years in prison. We will also invest a record £104 billion of private funding to upgrade crumbling sewage pipes and reduce discharges by nearly 50% within five years.

[Catherine Fookes]

I remain extremely grateful for the £100 million of support the Government have given to the River Wye action plan—a pioneering joint effort between the UK and Welsh Governments—but we must do more, including using sustainable farming initiatives to support farmers to look at their stocking rates. I am concerned by reports of Thames Water seeking regulatory easements. Can the Secretary of State assure me that this Government will continue to crack down on water pollution from all sources, in the Wye, the Thames and all across the UK?

[Steve Reed]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and I understand her concerns. I reassure her that the Government will always act in the national interest on these issues. Thames Water must meet its statutory and regulatory obligations to its customers and to the environment—it is only right that the company is subject to the same consequences as any other water company. The company remains financially stable, but we have stepped up our preparations and stand ready for all eventualities, as I have said before, including a special administration regime, if that were to become necessary.

--- Later in debate ---

The Solicitor General was asked—

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

1. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.

[Katie White (Leeds North West) (Lab)]

7. What steps she is taking to help increase prosecution rates for cases involving violence against women and girls.[R]

[The Solicitor General (Lucy Rigby)]

This Government were elected with a landmark mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. Despite the challenges we inherited, we have recently secured a record funding settlement for the Crown Prosecution Service, which will allow it to hire more prosecutors and play its part in rebuilding a criminal justice system that truly delivers for victims.

[Catherine Fookes]

I was glad to hear, after I raised this matter for the first time in November, of the launch of the west midlands pilot of the victims’ right to review scheme, which will give victims of rape and serious sexual violence an opportunity to challenge a prosecutor’s decision to drop their case. However, too many victims have already waited a huge amount of time to get any opportunity for justice, including those in my constituency of Monmouthshire. After being reported to the police, adult rape cases take an average of two years to complete in court. What work are the Government doing to reduce those waiting times?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises a very important issue. I know from meeting rape charities, and indeed from meeting CPS units right across the country, how long waits for justice harm victims and sometimes mean that they drop out of cases altogether. The Government and the CPS are taking action to reduce delays, including by increasing the number of Crown court sitting days and the number of counsel available to prosecute rape and serious sexual assault cases.

Sewage

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

We have had a wonderful surf around the UK’s rivers, lakes and seas this afternoon. Every single one of us in this House will have a waterway in our constituency, and we have all had to endure the worst impacts of the 14 years of negligence and failure that almost killed some of our rivers.

The Wye and the Usk, which run through my constituency, are two fantastic examples of waterways that sadly have been affected for too long. Run-off from agriculture, liquid waste from industry and sewage resulting from inadequate investment by failing water companies have all added up to increased phosphate levels in our rivers.

Tests in the Usk have shown scarily high levels of e-coli in the water, which made it unsafe for bathing and stopped local people enjoying the river in the ways they should be able to—sploshing through streams and jumping into the sea, as the Secretary of State spoke about earlier. We should all be able to swim, kayak and canoe without fear of nasty infection. Tourism has suffered, as have businesses like the one run by Angela Jones, whose livelihood depends on the river in Monmouthshire.

I want to pay tribute to the brilliant citizen scientists and campaigners in my constituency who tirelessly work to save our local rivers, including Friends of the River Wye, Save the River Usk, and the Wye Catchment Partnership. Members of our communities up and down the UK are testing and monitoring rivers for pollution and are coming up with innovative cross-border solutions.

The good news is that this Government have paid attention to people in Monmouthshire and all over England and Wales. The last Government had an unfunded, pie-in-the-sky action plan for the River Wye that only looked at England. Water flows across borders, and I am so pleased that, as the Secretary of State so eloquently mentioned, the two Labour Governments in Westminster and Cardiff have made progress and put £1 million into the River Wye so that we can clean it up once and for all.

The Water (Special Measures) Act has made extraordinary progress in making sure that polluters are accountable. It will strengthen Ofwat’s powers so that it can better hold water companies to account and bring tough criminal charges against those who break the law. This is only the beginning. We know that there is much more to do, and the upcoming Cunliffe review will help us to do that, but I am so proud that the Labour Government have achieved more in nine months than the previous Government did in 14 years—and, notably, more than the Liberal Democrats also did in coalition.

Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. The shortage of counsel is, indeed, a problem and has contributed to the record Crown court backlog. The Crown Prosecution Service is widening their panel, including for rape and serious sexual offences counsel. I have had regular discussions with the chair of the Bar Council around its work to try to ensure that criminal practitioners continue to stay in that line of work. I am also conscious that Ministry of Justice colleagues are very much committed to the sustainability of the Bar and are having regular discussions.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

The previous Conservative Government presided over a justice system where 60% of rape victims abandoned their cases, primarily due to the delays in court proceedings. This Government have prioritised victims by allocating a record number of sitting days. Does the Solicitor General agree that despite Opposition Members’ expressions of outrage, their Government failed to tackle the backlog and deliver timely justice to victims?

[The Solicitor General]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. As I have said a number of times, the root causes of the backlog lie with the Conservatives not taking action. It falls to this Government to take action, and it is action we are taking.

Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Consideration of Lords message
Tuesday 11th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to be back talking about the Bill again. In Committee and on Report, the Liberal Democrats put down a grand total of 56 amendments. What is two more? We believe, as the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Dr Hudson) said, that this Bill is a good thing, and we wish to see it on the statute book, but we do not feel it goes far enough, and the two amendments before us today give us the opportunity to consider it a little more.

Through amendment (a) the Government want to introduce financial reporting requirements for water companies. The report, to be required once a year, should be a concise, intelligible and up-to-date overview of the financial position of each undertaker—a water company—including information on share capital and debt, and any significant changes that may have happened in the past 12 months or expected changes in the 12 months to come. We very much welcome the amendment. We tabled many similar amendments that contained aspects of those proposals, both in Committee and on Report. We are bound to say that they were better amendments—more ambitious and far reaching—but as with much of this Bill, these proposals are a decent start and we do not want to stand in their way.

To clarify, we have proposed a variety of amendments to the Bill up to this point, including calling for Ofwat to be made responsible for the financial stability duty on water companies. We called for the banning of bonuses for water company bosses whose companies were performing poorly, and not just on environmental duties but on financial stability and water quality. On the Floor of the House we pushed to a vote, with the permission of the Chair, a ban on water companies making customers pay for their debt at the point of bankruptcy, and instead for investors, who have taken risks, to pay for them. That was right, and we were disappointed that the Government voted against it and the Conservatives sat on their hands and did not support bill payers. This is an important and live issue. In Westmorland in the north-west of England, 11% of bills paid only service the debt of United Utilities, yet in other parts of the country such as the areas served by Thames Water, that figure is around 35% or potentially even more.

We have called for scrutiny not just of the finances of water companies but of other areas. The Bill has moved things in the right direction, but not radically enough. In Committee, we sought to encourage and persuade Labour and Conservative Front Benchers—without success—that it would be wise to have environmental experts on the boards of water companies.

On the Government’s laudable and positive move towards a live database that citizen scientists can scrutinise, we asked that it also be a historical database that is searchable in retrospect. Wonderful organisations in my constituency, which are replicated around the country, such as the Eden Rivers Trust, the South Cumbria Rivers Trust, the Clean River Kent campaign and Save Windermere, would monitor that database, but unless they look at it 24/7 and do nothing else in their lives, some things may get past them. For example, between 2021 and 2023, 120 million litres of sewage were pumped into Windermere lake without United Utilities reporting it. We are reliant on citizen scientists knowing about this stuff, and a great database will do the job only if it is searchable in retrospect. Scrutiny and transparency on finances and environmental matters are vital. We are satisfied that amendment (a) provides increased transparency on water company finances, and therefore we will not make a nuisance of ourselves today.

I turn to the second of the amendments in front of us. The hon. Member for Epping Forest (Dr Hudson) rightly highlights and reminds Members of my distaste for not having stuff in the Bill, and how statutory instruments are not the best way of doing things. Despite that, I am even more of a fan of ensuring that we in this place can properly scrutinise those who are meant to be scrutinising our water companies, namely Ofwat.

Throughout the passage of the Bill, Liberal Democrats have made good, radical, environmentally minded proposals that are in the interests of our constituents and our waterways. Although the Government have understandably stuck to their guns and voted against us, the official Opposition have, oddly enough, abstained on pretty much everything—including, it would appear, on their own amendment today, for which we want to vote, notwithstanding all our reticence about not having important matters in the Bill.

This amendment was proposed in the other place by my former neighbour but one—not the hon. Member for Epping Forest, who is also my former neighbour—the right hon. Lord Blencathra, a former Member for Penrith and the Border, and a very accomplished parliamentarian. In this amendment, he is seeking to require increased parliamentary scrutiny of Ofwat when signing off on water company bonuses. That issue is of huge concern to me, and, I think, to most people around this country—certainly in my constituency—because record bonuses are being paid to senior executives around the country.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

The hon. Gentleman put forward a veritable smorgasbord of amendments in the Bill Committee, and all those issues were discussed. It is so important that Ofwat retains its independence. It is extremely relevant to point out, however, that during the coalition years and the 14 years the Conservatives were in government, no Bills were passed to ban water company bonuses, and this Bill will do just that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

We have to end the false dichotomy between creating places for people and creating places for nature. The previous Government introduced biodiversity net gain, which means that when a developer builds somewhere, they must deliver a 10% BNG for nature. That is in its early stages, after just a year, but we are looking to see how it might be extended. With the nature restoration fund, we have established a more efficient and effective way to allow obligations related to our most important sites and species to be discharged at scale, which has the greatest environmental benefit and is a win-win for nature and people.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Minister on announcing our plan to ban bee-killing pesticides. That is welcomed across Monmouthshire, particularly by our fantastic charity based in Monmouth, Bees for Development. Does she agree that where the Conservatives failed, this Government will restore nature and biodiversity for future generations?

[Mary Creagh]

I do agree, and I pay tribute to the people who are speaking for the bees in my hon. Friend’s constituency. We will deliver 30 by 30 on land in England. That means that we will protect and preserve 30% of our land for nature and long-term conservation and management as part of our contribution to international targets.

Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords]

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 28th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

The right hon. Gentleman is indeed an eager beaver. As much as I do not wish to pour water on his enthusiasm, I will of course respond to all the amendments at the end of this stage of the Bill, as protocol expects. I hope he is able to contain his excitement, and is looking forward to my final comments on that area. And I shall be practising my pirouettes in anticipation.

I wish to pay special thanks to the Welsh Government, the Deputy First Minister and the officials who have worked so openly and collaboratively with the UK Government throughout the development and passage of this Bill. I also thank the Senedd for their consent, which we received on 21 January. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our Welsh counterparts to protect our rivers, lakes and seas, particularly those that cross our borders.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for all her work on this Bill. Does she agree that we have made much more progress on banning bosses’ bonuses in the six months that we have been in office than the Conservatives did in 14 years?

[Emma Hardy]

That excellent point was well made by my hon. Friend. I hope all hon. Members agree that the amendments tabled by the Government will only strengthen this Bill and will support new clause 18.

--- Later in debate ---

The Bill is okay—it is even good in parts—but it would be significantly better with the Liberal Democrats’ suggested amendments. We humbly ask right hon. and hon. Members to support those amendments, and especially amendment 9, to give the British people the radical water industry clean-up that they voted for.

[Catherine Fookes]

I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Bill so fast in the first six months of the Government. It was an honour to sit on the Bill Committee and to engage in constructive discussion with hon. Members from across the House. However, I must take issue with the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) and his veritable smorgasbord of amendments and new clauses. I will not support them, because, let us remember, this is just the first step in cleaning up the appalling mess we have been left with our water companies. I am sure that the commission will bring forward ideas for more legislation.

I grew up in the countryside on a farm, and one of my favourite memories was running down the garden and out into the river at the bottom, going for a walk and sploshing through the streams. I and my family took it for granted that we could just mess about in the streams. Apart from really annoying my mum when I got back by leaving a messy puddle of water on the floor, there was never any fear that I would get sick or that I had been wading through sewage. What a change there has been, with parents now worried about their children going into the water. They cannot run helter-skelter into the local chalk stream for fear that they will get an ear infection or an eye infection, or perhaps encounter a wet wipe or something much worse.

Sadly, the health of the Wye and the Usk, our two majestic rivers in Monmouthshire, has really suffered over the past 14 years. I have spent many happy hours walking alongside them, seeing herons and kingfishers, and we have had some of our happiest family days out there. The dreadful state that those two rivers are in makes them two really good examples of the 14 years of Conservative failure and flimflam. We have record levels of illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas, and chronic ongoing diffuse pollution from agriculture.

In every constituency across the UK there are amazing groups of citizen scientists who have really brought our rivers to the fore. I pay tribute to Save the River Usk and Friends of the River Wye in Monmouthshire, who are among the best in the UK. [Interruption.] I am afraid that I will not give way as we are under extreme time pressure. One of my key promises in the election campaign was to work to clean up our rivers. Feargal Sharkey endorsed my campaign—when someone like him endorses a campaign, we know that we will be held to account. That is why I am so pleased that in the last six months we have done more than the Conservatives and the Lib Dems when they were in coalition.

I am proud that we are already standing here debating the Bill, only six months in. It will bring criminal charges against persistent lawbreakers, with penalties including imprisonment. In addition, the cost recovery powers of regulators will be expanded to ensure that water companies bear the cost of enforcement action taken in response to their failings.

We have been left a very difficult legacy due to the disastrous inaction of the Tories and the Lib Dems when they were in coalition. It will take much more work and many years across borders, with both farmers and water companies, to restore our rivers, but the Bill makes an excellent start to cleaning up the horrific mess. It will mean that in future, I hope, parents will be able to allow their children to run helter-skelter into their local rivers and streams.

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

I would like to speak to amendments 2 and 3, tabled in my name. Amendment 2 would further strengthen the Bill by making it a criminal offence for water companies to fail to report discharge from emergency overflows. Amendment 3 would prohibit such discharge in river areas such as the Thames that are used for aquatic sports.

I have the privilege of representing the towns and villages of Beaconsfield, Marlow, Bourne End and the south Bucks villages. Unfortunately, we are served by Thames Water, and we have some of the highest levels of fines in the country. We are blessed with a beautiful waterway setting throughout my constituency, including the River Thames. Our area is rich in watersport clubs—the Marlow rowing club, the Marlow canoe club and the Upper Thames sailing club to name but three. Young people from high schools and grammar schools use the Thames for their water sports as well.

Amendment 3 would give water used for aquatic sports the same protection as that used for bathing. It would establish clear consequences for water companies and their chief executives where they fail to comply with a clear duty to protect the water in which people practise aquatic sports, particularly rowing. That is particularly true of Thames Water and of the Thames. I appreciate the cross-party support in Committee on these amendments.

Aquatic sports are an important part of our sporting heritage in this country, but storm overflow discharge into our rivers has adversely affected the health of participants, creating an ongoing health risk to rowing, sailing, canoeing and other aquatic sports clubs along the Thames and across the country. Many clubs, particularly in places such as Marlow, take their duty of care very seriously, and are having to put in place their own monitoring systems to protect their members.

Amendment 3 would ensure that water used for aquatic sports was put on the same statutory footing as bathing water. It is time for water companies to take responsibility for ensuring that those waters are safe to use, and to protect our young people for the future. The amendments set out a reasonable expectation that a water company must not discharge an emergency overflow within a 1-mile radius of an area used for aquatic sports. The definition of such an area is clearly outlined, and further discretion is provided for the Secretary of State to determine such areas where needed. The amendment would bring much-needed support to our vital aquatic sports.

Water (Special Measures) Bill [ Lords ] (Fifth sitting)

Catherine Fookes Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 16th January 2025 Public Bill Committees

[Tim Farron]

I will say a brief word on the new clause. This is important, and I would like to add to the detail that my hon. Friend the Member for Witney has set out. Essentially, we have two problems here, one of which is that water companies are not statutory consultees, and they should be. I take the point that it could be more clearly stated, but the new clause does say “When participating” more than once, not “If participating”.

Without pointing fingers—well, maybe a bit at water companies in certain parts of the country, including mine—the key thing is that there is an incentive for a water company, when giving its advice to a planning committee, whether it be in the national parks, the dales, the lakes or a local council, basically to say that everything is fine, and why would it not? If a water company says, “We have no capacity issues. You can build those 200 houses on the edge of Kendal and it won’t cause any problems for our sewer capacity,” two things happen, do they not? First, the water company is not conceding the need to spend any money on upgrading the sewerage network. Secondly, it is guaranteeing itself 200 households that pay water bills, in addition to the ones it already has, so it has a built-in incentive—maybe not to be dishonest, but to not really give the fullest and broadest assessment of the situation.

[Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)]

I would like to give the hon. Member a practical example of where the absolute opposite has happened in Wales. In my constituency of Monmouthshire, Welsh Water was very clear that, because of the phosphate levels in the River Wye, there could be no development whatsoever in my area of the constituency—Monmouth—for several years. It absolutely stopped all development and seemed to be very honest in doing so. Now the problems have cleared up somewhat, and Monmouthshire county council has put forward a proposal in the local development plan to build houses. We also have a sustainable drainage systems regime, which means that absolutely nothing will be built without those systems. By the way, 50% of the homes will be affordable and they will be 100% net zero, so I commend Monmouthshire county council for putting that forward. I just wanted to say that there are examples where the opposite has happened to what the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale is saying.

[Tim Farron]

I thank the hon. Member for the intervention; I am sure that is the case, and the two are not mutually exclusive. I want to see houses built. The great frustration in our communities in the lakes and dales and just outside is that we desperately need homes that are affordable, and we want homes to be zero carbon. We want to be in a situation where the local community is able to hold developers to account. The danger is that developers who are going to build stuff on the cheap that is not affordable to potential buyers or renters are able to get themselves off the hook because the water companies will not really test the resilience of the existing infrastructure.

It is true that both things can happen. We feel that this is about giving planning authorities the power to say, “The developer is seeking to do this, but the community as a whole does not have the resilience or the capacity to cope with 200 extra bathrooms; so what resources will the developer or the water company put in to ensure that the facilities are upgraded to make that possible?” This is about ensuring that planning does its job.