Water Bill

My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord Moynihan. Although he described these proposals as modes...

I rise to make a very brief comment, prompted by the remarks of my noble friend on the likely pos...

My Lords, last week’s de facto alliance between the noble Lord, Lord Moynihan, and me extends in ...

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Moynihan’s Amendments 115 and 116 would introduce a new duty on in...

My Lords, I am deeply grateful to the Minister for his comprehensive response. I have to say that...

Moved by

Baroness Parminter

117:Clause 24, page 64, line 28, leave out “may” and inse...

My Lords, I welcome the fact that the Water Bill places the Government’s strategic priorities and...

My Lords, I support these amendments. New Section 2A(3) to be inserted by Clause 24 seems to diff...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Parminter for her amendment. She notes that Clause 24 on s...

I thank my noble friend for her detailed comments on my amendment and for the fact that she notic...

Moved by

Lord Grantchester

118: After Clause 24, insert the following new Clause—

My Lords, Amendment 118 is a straightforward requirement on companies to meet what ought to be se...

My Lords, as I had occasion to remark at Second Reading, some water companies have been making ex...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Grantchester, for introducing Amendment 118, which, as he ...

I thank the Minister for that reply. I had not heard that all companies were already providing th...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

119: After Clause 24, insert the following new Clause—

“Na...

My Lords, Amendment 119 deals with the affordability question. As my noble friend said on the las...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for Amendment 119, which would insert a new clause...

My Lords, on this amendment, the noble Lord has misunderstood the nature of the proposition and d...

I ought to interject. I did not say that all companies within a couple of years would have social...

My Lords, that is even less reassuring than what I thought the Minister said in the first place.<...

I thought I had made the point that we accepted that there will be some sort of cross-subsidy but...

Yes, but my proposition allows for that. It gives a push to companies to develop their social tar...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

120: After Clause 24, insert the following new Clause—

“Pr...

My Lords, Amendment 120 relates to a different issue, that of debt—I think I am on the right one....

My Lords, I ask the noble Lord whether his amendment covers the reverse—a situation where a custo...

My Lords, this is an issue, particularly for metered customers who have an estimated bill, for bo...

The noble Lord’s amendment covers the question of debt being carried through the regulatory syste...

Both the Minister and I will need notice of that question.

I rise to support the intention of Amendment 120, if not the intention of Amendment 122, which is...

My Lords, I have a lot of sympathy with the thrust behind the attempt of the noble Lord, Lord Whi...

My Lords, over the years that we have been debating water bills, this has been a constant theme. ...

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for his amendments. Amendment 120 would add a new clause to ...

My Lords, in relation to Amendment 122, the information the Minister has given us and his respons...

Moved by

Baroness Neville-Rolfe

122A:After Clause 24, insert the following new Clause...

My Lords, as a new peer—like a new entrant to the water industry—I have been trying to understand...

My Lords, my noble friend made a formidable speech at Second Reading in which she launched her as...

My Lords, I want to give the Minister a little encouragement. We all recognise that this is a hop...

My Lords, I am inspired by my noble friend Lord Crickhowell, who said that his worry was that the...

My Lords, briefly, I support the amendment proposed, although again I anticipate that the Ministe...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness on producing such an important amendment. I suspect t...

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her Amendment 122A, which would introduce a new statutory d...

My Lords, I am grateful for the trenchant support I have had from this side of the House for my e...

I thought I had said that they are on the website.

They are, but I was suggesting that we have a website that brought all the different things toget...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

123: Clause 27, page 67, line 30, at end insert “or to meet wate...

My Lords, I will speak also to Amendment 124. These amendments deal with the water resource manag...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for tabling these amendments. As noble Lords know,...

I am most grateful to my noble friend for giving way. Is she not a little concerned that all this...

I am sure that my noble friend shares everyone’s concern that the Government should take responsi...

My Lords, I am happy with those reassurances, in particular on underlining the need for the regul...

Moved by

Lord De Mauley

125:Clause 31, page 76, line 5, at end insert—

“(7) For...

Moved by

Baroness Northover

126:Clause 31, page 77, line 11, leave out “a code” and i...

My Lords, Amendments 126, 130 and 148 to 152 are minor and technical amendments to ensure consist...

Moved by

Lord De Mauley

127:Clause 32, page 78, line 34, leave out “or”

128:Cla...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

134:Clause 42, page 93, line 31, after “complaints” insert “whet...

My Lords, Amendment 134 and the other two amendments in this group deal with the issue of collect...

My Lords, this is pretty standard stuff: first you legislate to weaken competition, which is the ...

My Lords, perhaps I could seek clarification about the effect of the amendment, which it seems co...

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for his amendments, which, as he laid out, relate ...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for spelling that out. I should explain to the nobl...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

137: After Clause 42, insert the following new Clause—

“Ge...

My Lords, rather late in the day we are approaching a rather important issue, which concerns the ...

My Lords, we should look very carefully at this proposal for an increase in regulation. Water and...

I support that view. I completely understand where the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, is coming from, b...

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, for his amendments. I shall deal with the amendments in reve...

My Lords, I would not disagree with the Minister and the noble Baroness that Ofwat is toughening ...

Moved by

Lord De Mauley

147:Schedule 7, page 174, line 42, at end insert—

“3A I...

Moved by

Lord Whitty

153:Clause 47, page 102, line 40, leave out subsection (1)

My Lords, I will not detain the Committee too long on this one. When I saw this provision, it jum...

My Lords, briefly, I support my noble friend Lord Whitty in his challenge to the Government and, ...

My Lords, when I heard the earlier debate about consolidation and clarifying legislation, I thoug...

I thank the noble Baroness for that and her determination to write to me setting it out. The impo...