House of Commons · Westminster Hall
07 February 2024 · 1 other contributor · 4,733 words
Opened by Layla Moran Lib Dem Oxford West and Abingdon
Responding minister: Robbie Moore
Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.
Layla Moran raised concerns about thames water: oxfordshire in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key points
Key requests to Government
The Liberal Democrats demand a public inquiry into Thames Water's Abingdon reservoir project and urge the Government to consider transforming water companies into public benefit companies. The MP also asks for support from the government for those who cannot afford the impending price hikes of up to 60% over six years.
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.
Opened the debate
Residents in Oxfordshire are worried about the poor performance of Thames Water. The company has spilled sewage for 6,500 hours over nine months, impacting rivers like the River Thames. Sewage dumping poses serious health risks to wildlife and humans, with reported cases of infections from contaminated water. The local environment is under threat due to failed infrastructure maintenance and high levels of leaks causing reservoirs to drop in volume during heavy rainfall.
Mr. Tim Farron agreed with the importance of the debate, highlighting concerns about testing reliability done by water companies in his constituency, suggesting that water companies should not mark their own homework and that independent testing is necessary to ensure reliable results. I want to press the Minister on whether water companies should be marking their own homework when assessing problems. I ask for details on testing around Windermere, where more than a dozen assets are failing but we only know this from company testing. Should it not be the case that companies pay for the testing but leave the Environment Agency to conduct and verify data?
Government Response
Robbie MooreIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Bardell. I thank the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for bringing this incredibly important debate on the performance of Thames Water before the House. Thames Water's performance is completely unacceptable, and it must take urgent steps to turn this around. According to Ofwat, Thames Water is failing to meet its commitments to customers on eight of the 12 common performance metrics, particularly on ensuring a consistent supply of water and on its pollution instances. The Government and regulators do not take underperformance lightly; as a result, Ofwat has directed Thames Water to return over £73 million to customers during the financial year of 2024-25, which is in addition to £51 million returned to customers during 2022-23. The Government will hold the water company to account through the use of the regulators—the Environment Agency and Ofwat. Thames Water must start turning its performance around by producing a service commitment plan that details how it will address the issues raised today. I have met with the new chief executive of Thames Water and will continue to monitor their progress closely. I also addressed specific points made about bathing water status, storm overflows, supply interruptions, sewer flooding, Abingdon reservoir, Witney sewage treatment works, and strengthened regulation by the Environment Agency. The Government are providing £2.2 million per year specifically for water company enforcement activity. All water companies, including Thames Water, must clean up their act, behave transparently, and take urgent action to improve their performance.