TRUSTPOLITICS
Mr Toby Perkins

Mr Toby Perkins

Labour — Chesterfield

Speaking in the House of Commons on 8 June 2026

Debate

Water Companies

Contribution

My hon. Friend the Minister is absolutely right to say that we are united by our anger about the systemic failures in the water industry, in terms of both financial and environmental regulation, and the under-investment in infrastructure over a long period—although the fact that Welsh Water, a not-for-profit water company, is also a poor performer when it comes to the environment shows that it is simplistic to say that profit is the only issue here. The Government have rightly addressed one of the issues—the amount of investment going in—but we need to see results from higher bills, and we also need to see regulatory reform as soon as possible. Will the water Bill tackle the environmental failures and also put in place a regime that prevents the kind of appalling indebtedness that we saw with Thames Water, and the industry more generally, and the prioritisation of those debts ahead of delivering for customers?
← Previous speaker
In this debate
Next speaker →
In this debate

More from Mr Toby Perkins

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

View Mr Toby Perkins's full report card →

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

For Mr Toby Perkins's full parliamentary record including voting history, expenses and all other contributions, see the Mr Toby Perkins report card.

Partner sites