L

Lord Sikka (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 28 October 2024

Debate

Water (Special Measures) Bill [HL]

Contribution

My Lords, Amendment 4 seeks clarity as to what the Bill is getting at. The Bill’s intention appears to apply penalties to only selected directors and not the entire board of directors, even though decisions are made collectively. The Explanatory Notes say it commits to “ban bonuses for persons holding senior roles”, and the Bill defines a “senior role” as a person who “is a chief executive of the undertaker”— a somewhat unfortunate phrase— “is a director of the undertaker, or … holds such other description of role with the undertaker”. The tone of the Bill suggests that references may all be to executive directors, but we know that water companies also have non-executive directors, and under the Companies Act non-executive directors have exactly the same liability and responsibility as executive directors. The Bill does not mention non-executive directors. Amendment 4 seeks clarity and asks the Minister to confirm that the prohibitions and penalties will apply to not only non-executive directors but legal persons who may be acting as directors, because natural persons can be directors as well as legal persons. I beg to move.

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