Water Companies: Borrowings - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 2:49 pm on 5 September 2022.

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Photo of Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) 2:49, 5 September 2022

I am not convinced that the record in Wales is significantly better than the one here. A report today, which I am surprised has not been brought up yet, showed a worrying increase in pollution in areas of this country. But, in every case that has been reported, to my knowledge, that is a consequence of our having put record investment into monitoring in a way that we never did before. There were problems that were not captured but they are now, reflecting a significant increase of the problem and greater justification for the actions that we know we need to take. But I do not think that we should pretend that a problem is new because we have just discovered it; it has been there for a long time.