Member

Amendment 2 is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Cromwell, on the reporting of water company financial structures. I thank him; he spent some time with me explaining this, and I am grateful even though clearly I have not accepted it. I remind noble Lords that Ofwat has a core duty under Section 2 of the Water Industry Act 1991 to act in a manner calculated to ensure that water companies are able to finance the proper carrying out of their statutory obligations. I reassure the noble Lord that it is not the case that we are not accepting the amendment due to concerns about impacts on investors; that is not the reasoning.