Tom Gordon MP votes for Water Bill amendment to prevent customers paying for water companies’ failures

Yesterday, Tom backed a Lib Dem amendment to the Water Bill Special Measures Bill currently going through Parliament. The amendment would have ensured that customers don’t have to foot the bill for water companies’ failures. 

Unfortunately, both the Labour government and the Conservatives refused to protect the water industry’s customers. Tom is calling for the Government to urgently address this and ensure that customers aren’t forced to pick up the tab for the financial mismanagement of the water industry. 

Since before the election, Tom has been calling for the water industry to be cracked down on, to prevent the further spilling of sewage and ensure water companies are held to account for their actions. In recent weeks he has met with the Environment Agency and also raised concerns in Parliament about the impact of new developments on already overloaded sewage systems. 

In Yorkshire, recent months have seen scandal after scandal at Yorkshire Water. They have been fined for continued sewage discharges and criticised for poor handling of customer complaints, all whilst paying out a £371,000 bonus to their CEO and looking to hike customer bills by more than 40%. Tom has been campaigning alongside the Nidd Action Group, local councillor Hannah Gostlow and the local community to get the sewage in the River Nidd cleaned up. Last year after much effort by the community and former MP Andrew Jones the Nidd was given bathing water status.