Sir MP, Chair of the
Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has written to , the Permanent Secretary of
the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), on
the topic of water sector regulation.
This follows the government's
response to the PAC's report on water sector
regulation, and a recent engagement event held by the
Committee in Harrow with campaigners, citizen scientists and
representatives of water users impacted by poor water quality.
The letter lays out multiple disappointing areas in government's
response, and requests further information on each. It also lays
out the evidence taken by the Committee at the engagement event,
and poses a number of questions arising from these discussions.
You can read the letter here, and find out
more about the event here.
Commenting on the letter's publication, Sir Geoffrey
said: “As Chair and on behalf of the Public
Accounts Committee, I would like to thank all of the participants
at our roundtable on water sector regulation, particularly those
that helped with the water sampling to prove that the Wealdstone
Brook is highly polluted. These kinds of events are crucial for
us as members of Parliament to have direct experience of the
issues we scrutinise, from experts and specialists.
“With the knowledge gained at our roundtable, I continue to have
meetings with those responsible for regulating this sector. Water
sector regulation is not a problem that will be fixed overnight.
The government is currently considering Sir Jon Cunliffe's
recommendations that all regulators should be amalgamated. I
believe that the work being done behind the scenes by the
regulators, if fully implemented, has the potential to improve
the water industry. Our Committee will continue with our scrutiny
of the issue to help ensure we move towards a regulatory
environment that is fit for purpose.”
