Speeches by Newbury.

“As we know, Ofwat examines many areas of water companies’ operations, and Yorkshire Water’s financial resilience has concerned Ofwat for a number of years now. Why do you think the regulator has cause for concern, and what are you doing to improve that financial position?”

“Yorkshire Water is privately owned by several overseas investors. It is financed under a whole business securitisation model which I think anybody would look at and call complex. What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of that particular model?”

“Previously, Ofwat has investigated Yorkshire Water for the misuse of intercompany loans. They went as far as reprimanding you for making loans within this complex business structure without their consent, as was required. Do you understand why Ofwat and your customers would have been concerned by that?”

“Are you on track to meet that target in two years’ time?”

“In the previous Parliament, this Committee took evidence on financing models of water companies and some witnesses suggested that this WBS model allows water companies to take on a higher level of debt gearing—which you mentioned—without damaging their credit scores. It could be said that that is essentially gaming the…”

“Ofwat recommends that you hold the gearing at around 70%. Why would you not reduce it lower than that?”

“In terms of raising that equity, we have heard from other water companies that their owners were looking at the determination from a priority view and, on that basis, deciding whether they were going to inject cash into the business or not. Is Yorkshire Water in that position, or are you confident that you will get the…”

“Turning from raising money to spending it. Like most water companies over the last four years or so, Yorkshire Water has overspent on its wastewater and water allowances—your everyday expenditure. What is particularly concerning is that you have underspent your allowances for enhancement by 31%. Does that not expose an…”

“Are you confident that you will not see the same underinvestment in the following five-year period?”

“Would the development of an app potentially solve that? Would that be something that could potentially be added into that?”

“We have talked about BCPs quite a lot already. It is clear from your answers that your members have not had positive experiences of attending BCPs for SPS checks. Are you confident that BCPs and control points have the capacity to deliver the number of checks that have been set out in BTOM?”

“We visited Dover. More than half our trade is coming through the short straits. One of the things they were keen to mention to us was the lack of operation at Bastion Point, which was commissioned at a cost of £22 million. It has never operated. We went up and saw Bastion Point. We were told by the Port Health Authorit…”

“Staffing seems to be a core issue around the capacity question. We know Dover Port Health Authority, for example, has the ability only to do 20% coverage. Most of the time, goods are going through unchecked. What are your thoughts on that? Is there potential for that resourcing issue to be resolved? Are we really looki…”

“The 20% is Dover Port Health Authority, but clearly there are challenges on the APHA side as well.”

“Yes, that is certainly something we heard last week. We also talked about the fact that when a non-compliant load is found, often it is cleared. A voluntary declaration is made; the goods are surrendered; and the driver goes off. They probably often go back, get more and see whether they can get through again. I totall…”

“It is interesting to hear there is that much variance because we are being told that it is a risk-based system. You would expect that the numbers being stopped would be fairly consistent. From one day to the next, the risk is not going to increase that much. The content of what is being imported into the country is not…”

“If we do not have the capacity, we are reducing the number of checks that we are doing. That is just a natural consequence of that resourcing issue.”

“My constituents have steadfastly supported the people of Ukraine since Russia’s illegal invasion. Can the Secretary of State confirm that collective support for Ukraine will be a major focus of his discussions with EU counterparts and that under this Government the UK will always lead the way in stepping up support for…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her generosity in giving way and for giving us the opportunity to discuss this important issue. She is clearly setting out the value of the defence sector in Tamworth, the villages and our region more widely. In Cannock, engineers at Briggs Equipment have extended the operational life of the …”

“It is an honour to speak in this debate as a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. I thank our Chair, the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), for securing the debate. The future of farming is not simply about keeping our fields green, livestock sheds full or supermarket she…”