Thank you to everyone who contacted me about water bills, water ownership and regulation of the water industry. I appreciate the issues you raise. Water companies are failing to deliver for their customers and the environment, and the public has rightly had enough.

I believe that the problems we are facing with water companies and the bitter pill of higher water bills have arisen because the last Government weakened regulation, failed to invest in infrastructure and allowed water bosses to take millions of pounds in bonuses while pumping record levels of sewage into our waters.

I am therefore proud to have been elected on a manifesto that pledged to put failing water companies under special measures to clean up our waters. I am committed to giving regulators new powers to block the payment of bonuses to executives who pollute our waterways and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers, as well as to imposing automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing and ensuring independent monitoring of every outlet.

I welcome that the Government is already taking action to deliver on this commitment, with the announcement in the King’s Speech on 17 July of the Water (Special Measures) Bill. In addition, on 11 July, the Environment Secretary announced measures to ensure that: funding for vital infrastructure investment is ringfenced; water companies will place customers and the environment at the heart of their objectives in their company rules; compensation for households and businesses when basic water services are affected will be doubled; and powerful new customer panels will be able to hold water company bosses to account.

I believe the measures the Government is taking will strengthen the enforcement regime and make clear that it will not tolerate poor performance across the water sector. Change will take time, but I look forward to supporting further steps to fundamentally transform our water industry and restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.

Thank you once again to all those who have contacted me about this important issue.