Schedule 4 - Licensing of water suppliers
Water Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Bill Wiggin (Leominster, Conservative)
I am more than grateful to the Liberal Democrat spokesman. He was absolutely right. The purpose of the amendment is to find out why home owners are, to some extent, being persecuted—perhaps that is too strong a word—by the way that the Bill is structured. We are seeking to find out who the licensed water suppliers are. At the moment, it is far from clear what sort of institution could become a licensed water supplier. For example, a hospital is not a residential home—it does not have anyone living in it—but it could run a licensed water supply as a business, perhaps even at a loss as an offset against tax. Other big companies could perhaps do that also. The amendment is designed to tease out who the Government envisage a licensed water supplier will be and who it will not be. I hope that the Minister can clarify that definition.