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Lord Davies of Gower (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 18 March 2026

Debate

Crime and Policing Bill

Contribution

My Lords, I will be brief in reiterating that I support the aims of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, but we cannot support these two amendments. Water companies are already subject to thorough oversight, and Ofwat and the Environment Agency have regulatory powers over them. Additional offences will simply increase hostility and legal costs. Similarly, even if we did agree with additional measures requiring an arbitrary measurement for an arbitrary number of consecutive years, that is not the way to improve service quality. It entirely misunderstands the nature of the market and how to incentivise improvement. We therefore cannot support the measures.

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