Member

The Government are already being criticised for lack of progress in meeting those targets; the Office for Environmental Protection, for example, has done work to highlight that. The target of halting the decline of species and biodiversity by 2030 is incredibly close and the Government certainly will not make it if an important body such as Ofwat, which controls the framework within which our freshwater environment flourishes, or not, is not clearly tasked with doing its bit now. As has already been said, it is not just about the five-yearly price rounds; it is about the day-to-day decisions that Ofwat is making as we speak, and will make over the next five years, that certainly need to be guided by this revised duty. I hope that the Minister will give way on that amendment.