Emma Hardy

Emma Hardy

Labour — Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice

Speaking in the House of Commons on 12 January 2026

Debate

Water Supplies: East Grinstead

Contribution

I am with the hon. Lady wholeheartedly. I completely understand the anger and frustration that she feels on behalf of her local residents who are once again experiencing problems with this company. As I have said, the short-term factor is the freeze and thaw, but the longer-term factors are the lack of resilience in the company and the fundamental problems that it has. We need to address that on a systemic basis: we need to set resilience standards, so that a maintenance system that is “fix on failure” becomes a proactive system. The hon. Lady is right to raise the problems surrounding this company. It is already being investigated by the Drinking Water Inspectorate because of the earlier issues in Tunbridge Wells, and the inspectorate will conduct further investigations. I have met Ofwat representatives to discuss my concern about the company’s performance, and have asked them to look into whether it is meeting its obligations in respect of serving its customers.

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