Speeches by Tufnell.

“You talk about risk, and the regulator is there to manage that risk and hold you to account. The DWI found that you did not carry out any jar testing in October, despite there being a requirement under regulatory notice to do so, and that the original coagulant should have worked had the optimisation process been follo…”

“But it is not, in your report.”

“Do you understand why it is so important, though? Because if you read the DWI report, “The company focused too much attention on the bad batch theory for the coagulant,” which means that that theory effectively fits the narrative being put forward that it is outside the company’s control, even though DWI states there i…”

“You did not do a jar testing until 28 November.”

“You did not do a jar testing until 28 November.”

“How long have you been working with Severn Trent on best practice? How long have you been learning from it?”

“Let us talk about being asleep at the wheel, shall we? The DWI set out what you were doing in the control room. It is only manned Monday to Friday during the day, and there is no one there otherwise to monitor issues and nothing to see the emerging problems. Do you not think that is being asleep at the wheel?”

“But it is flagged in your own report that you have got a reactive and distinctive approach to safety; so it is not part of your—”

“Part of understanding what maintenance needs to be done is that you have to monitor what is happening in the first place. The DWI also set out that there was not enough monitoring going on at the Pembury works, particularly around optimising that coagulation process. There was no continuous temperature monitoring, and …”

“You have been taking best practice from Severn Trent for three or four years?”

“The reason why I am pushing this point is that the report talks about groupthink. As the chair and non-executive directors, it is your responsibility to guard against that; it is concerning that you do not seem to be doing your job properly.”

“Do you understand why it is so important, though? Because if you read the DWI report, “The company focused too much attention on the bad batch theory for the coagulant,” which means that that theory effectively fits the narrative being put forward that it is outside the company’s control, even though DWI states there i…”

“Let us talk about being asleep at the wheel, shall we? The DWI set out what you were doing in the control room. It is only manned Monday to Friday during the day, and there is no one there otherwise to monitor issues and nothing to see the emerging problems. Do you not think that is being asleep at the wheel?”

“How long have you been working with Severn Trent on best practice? How long have you been learning from it?”

“But it is not, in your report.”

“But it is flagged in your own report that you have got a reactive and distinctive approach to safety; so it is not part of your—”

“You have been taking best practice from Severn Trent for three or four years?”

“In terms of the culture of the organisation that you oversee, and the scrutiny and accountability, are you not concerned that you have been in post for over two years and you have never thought that maybe safety should be part of the organisational thinking?”

“This was in terms of your response systems.”

“Is there a power in this country that you feel you have to adhere to? You dispute the judges; you do not take seriously what the Prime Minister says; you do not take seriously what the Secretary of State says. You seem to hold Parliament— What power in this country do you feel that you, as a company, can adhere to?”