Lord de Mauley
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
My Honourable Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries (Richard Benyon) has today made the following Statement.
An urgent cash advance of £1,500,000 (one and a half million pounds) is required to fund Ofwat's immediate operating cost commitments and prevent default to contractual suppliers while we await Royal Assent of Supplementary Estimates.
Ofwat is heavily committed currently to a range of major projects that rely on the expert input of a number of specialist suppliers. Without this input Ofwat would be unable to regulate effectively and protect the interests of 52 million consumers in England and Wales. Ofwat contract with a large number of SME's and therefore it is in the public interest that we make payment promptly within agreed contractual terms.
Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £3,000,000 was sought in a Supplementary Estimate for 2012-13 on the
The house of Lords is the upper chamber of the Houses of Parliament. It is filled with Lords (I.E. Lords, Dukes, Baron/esses, Earls, Marquis/esses, Viscounts, Count/esses, etc.) The Lords consider proposals from the EU or from the commons. They can then reject a bill, accept it, or make amendments. If a bill is rejected, the commons can send it back to the lords for re-discussion. The Lords cannot stop a bill for longer than one parliamentary session. If a bill is accepted, it is forwarded to the Queen, who will then sign it and make it law. If a bill is amended, the amended bill is sent back to the House of Commons for discussion.
The Lords are not elected; they are appointed. Lords can take a "whip", that is to say, they can choose a party to represent. Currently, most Peers are Conservative.
When speaking in the House of Commons, an MP will refer to an MP of the same party as "My Honourable Friend".
