[Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath]
I try and keep an eye on what our city’s MP is up to and note that she was recently part of a committe considering draft legislation to protect water supplies in case water companies go into administration.
Mrs Hobhouse – who is Liberal Democrat MP for Bath – used the occasion to criticise the government’s failures to hold water companies to environmental standards, as the Minister for Water and Rural Growth considered two Statutory Instruments to update industry legislation.
Wera Hobhouse had joined the Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee to consider the draft legislation: Water Industry (Special Administration) Regulations 2024 and the Water Industry Act 1991 (Amendment) Order 2024. This comes as water firms are facing extensive criticism for potentially breaching their permits by discharging raw sewage into the UK’s waterways.
Although the Bath MP supported the much-needed legislation, she ensured that it did not go without scrutiny. Mrs Hobhouse said that the government’s attempts to tackle poor environmental performance from the water industry have failed.
She argued that it was imperative for the government to address the root cause of underfunding and under-resourcing for regulators. Without tackling this, Hobhouse said it would be difficult to achieve a clearer regulatory framework to ensure that water firms adhere to their environmental obligations.
The MP for Bath proposed that under Liberal Democrat policies, the industry crisis could have been avoided. She argued that implementing a public benefit company model for water firms would mean that companies must explicitly consider particular economic and environmental policy objectives.
Under this model, water companies would have to put a share of their own profits into social tariffs, adhere to environmental standards and help customers to lower their water bills.
Mrs Hobhouse said:
“The Conservatives have failed to hold water companies to account, instead turning a blind eye to the crisis currently overwhelming the industry. It is appalling that sewage continues to be pumped into our rivers while water firms rake in large profits.
“The current system must be reformed to provide accountability and quality service for customers. That’s why we Liberal Democrats back a public benefit company model to transform the industry so that disgraced water firms can no longer put profit before the environment.”
