Speeches by Newbury.

“There were quite a few themes coming out that really portray why that customer satisfaction rate has dropped. I heard about leaks being reported by MPs, but no follow-up received. We heard, as you have touched on, about the buck being passed between Severn Trent and the Highways Authority. In my neck of the woods, it i…”

“I will absolutely share that with colleagues who have written to me.”

“You cannot deal with every case, so I would just ask you to go away and look at the customer service journey. It does seem like sometimes there are not regular updates.”

“If we are talking about profit before tax and profit after tax, you are paying out more in dividends than you are getting in profit after tax. Are you telling us that you have paid out so much in profit that, once you have paid your tax, which you have to do, you are at a loss because the dividend number is greater tha…”

“Can I just touch on a slightly different angle? This is something that was raised with me by a few colleagues. Although you are justifying your remuneration and the dividend based on the company’s performance—it is going up at a certain rate, and you say we should accept that is fair given the performance of the compan…”

“I will absolutely share that with colleagues who have written to me.”

“Thank you for coming this morning, Liv. I represent Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, so along with Julia, I am both a representative in your area and a customer, of course. We wanted to pick up questions around this, because I expect that you want to be as open with your customers as you possibly can. You have answered …”

“Can I just touch on a slightly different angle? This is something that was raised with me by a few colleagues. Although you are justifying your remuneration and the dividend based on the company’s performance—it is going up at a certain rate, and you say we should accept that is fair given the performance of the compan…”

“Before I move on to another set of questions, you mentioned regarding the Trent incident that you held your hands up; you admitted liability. In the case of a separate incident in Sutton Park in Birmingham, that went to Birmingham Crown Court. You were fined £500,000. Raw sewage was dumped in the park. It destroyed rar…”

“Before I move on to another set of questions, you mentioned regarding the Trent incident that you held your hands up; you admitted liability. In the case of a separate incident in Sutton Park in Birmingham, that went to Birmingham Crown Court. You were fined £500,000. Raw sewage was dumped in the park. It destroyed rar…”

“If the cost of living is an issue, though, would it not be preferable to keep bills down? Alongside all other water companies, you have asked for enormous increases in customers’ bills. If giving out dividends to customers to help them with the cost of living is part of the consideration, why do you not just lower bill…”

“Thank you for coming this morning, Liv. I represent Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, so along with Julia, I am both a representative in your area and a customer, of course. We wanted to pick up questions around this, because I expect that you want to be as open with your customers as you possibly can. You have answered …”

“It is an honour to speak in this debate as the Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, an area deeply proud of its mining heritage. Collieries were our dominant industry from the mid- 19th century right up until the early 1990s. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) on securing …”

“Just on that, particularly in terms of resource, do you think that local authorities have the appropriate resource to carry out this work? We have seen reports from the FSA and also the Local Government Association, which have identified that the vast majority of councils are struggling to recruit food safety officers,…”

“Lastly, Helen, you mentioned that inland local authorities are having to clear up the goods that escape through the gaps in the system. Do you think that it is DEFRA that should be grasping the nettle when it comes to challenges like making sure data is shared and that staff are appropriately trained?”

“That is concerning in itself. Did you want to add anything, Lucy?”

“Do you think that, in reality, inland local authorities are bearing the brunt, but, as you said, they are not getting the recognition or the resources?”

“In terms of the mechanisms that the inland local authorities are using to identify and remove these products, what are they, and do you think those are adequate? You have mentioned the inadequacy of the post‑Brexit IT system, for example.”

“Before I dive into the questions, I just want to say that, personally, I am really shocked about some of the things you have told us today, in terms of the lack of engagement from DEFRA, particularly during a live biosecurity threat, which we know from past experience could hit our economy, particularly our farming sec…”

“Yes, absolutely. We just need a bit of co-ordination from the centre to enable everybody to do their job effectively. Lastly, Helen, you predicted about 18 months ago that there could be additional burdens on local authorities as a result of BTOM being brought in, particularly where you have biosecurity as a risk. You …”