Liam Conlon

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas. This Government is determined to ensure that executives have the right incentives to turn the performance of water companies around and agree that it is absolutely necessary to increase the accountability of water companies for wrongdoing.

That is why the Water (Special Measures) Bill will provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies and their executives.

This Bill will ensure companies are held accountable by ensuring that imprisonment will always be available to the courts as a sentencing option where investigations by the environmental regulators have been obstructed. It will also enable automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing, making it possible for the regulators to take swift action against minor to moderate offences where currently a lengthy investigation is required.

The Bill will introduce a statutory duty for all water companies in England and Wales to publish annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans, and associated Implementation Reports. Chief Executives will be required to approve both the plan and the report and will be personally liable for their publication.

We are also providing Ofwat with the powers to stop the payment of executive bonuses where companies breach specified standards relating to criminal liability, financial, environmental or consumer matters. Furthermore, under the new powers, Ofwat will test to ensure directors and executives meet clear standards of fitness and propriety before being appointed.

The Government recognises the vital role access to the natural environment plays in supporting people’s health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring opportunities to enjoy the outdoors are both safe and appropriate. To this end, we have set out ambitious manifesto commitments, including the creation of nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England, which will significantly expand access to the great outdoors.

Key initiatives are already underway to improve access to nature, including The King Charles III England Coast Path, which will be the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world, spanning approximately 2,700 miles. The project will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin.

In July, we announced swift action to begin resetting the water sector, including ringfencing vital funding for infrastructure investment and placing customers and the environment at the heart of water company objectives.

In September, the Government introduced the Water (Special Measures) Bill to give regulators new powers to take tougher and faster action to crack down on water companies damaging the environment and failing their customers.

Furthermore, on 23 October, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Welsh government, launched an Independent Commission on the water sector regulatory system, to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

The Environment Agency regulates discharges to water using environmental permits and investigates pollution incidents, nationally and in the Beckenham and Penge constituency. Regulators will take action when illegality is identified, in line with their enforcement and sanctions policies.

(a) The Government will introduce a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy to deliver legally binding targets to improve air quality. The Clean Air Strategy will include a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.

(b) Air quality policy in London is devolved to the Mayor. The Mayor and the London Assembly prioritise action to improve air quality and support local authorities including Bromley to improve air quality in their area.

The Secretary of State has met with water company bosses, including Thames Water, to make clear companies will be held accountable for their performance for customers and the environment. During the meeting water bosses signed up to the Government’s initial package of reforms to reduce sewage pollution and attract investment to upgrade infrastructure.

In addition, the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill will strengthen regulation, giving the water regulator new powers to ban the payment of bonuses if environmental standards are not met and increasing accountability for water executives. These are the first critical steps in enabling a long-term and transformative reset of the entire water sector. The Government will be carrying out a review to fundamentally transform how our water system works and clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Also, in Beckenham and Penge, and across the country, the Environment Agency undertakes weekly debris screen clearances and vegetation clearances at priority locations to keep the main rivers clear.

As announced in the recent Get Britain Working White Paper, we are reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service that will enable everyone to access support to find good, meaningful work, and support to help them to progress in work, including through an enhanced focus on skills and careers advice. This new service will transform our ability to support people into work, help those on low pay to increase their earnings, and create a more flexible workforce for a fast changing, higher skilled jobs market. This transformation is expected to contribute significantly to economic growth by addressing local skills gaps and providing tailored support to meet the needs of local labour markets.

We are currently considering our evaluation strategy to assess the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the new service. This includes funding in 2025/26 to take forward the first steps of building the new service through a pathfinder, as set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper.

The DWP collaborates across Government to enhance operations, share data across government, and represent DWP at cross-government Digital and Data forum to deliver outcomes.

DWP works jointly across Government Departments and Law Enforcement Agencies on investigations into benefit fraud carried out by organised crime gangs.

Our recently published Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our aspirations to overhaul the Jobcentre system and establish a new Job and Career Service, which will focus on people’s skills and careers instead of just monitoring and managing benefit claims. This will be kickstarted by £55million of investment, to help people – including parents - get into work, stay in work, build skills and progress in their career.

We are also considering how we can improve our support to help parents into work as part of our Child Poverty Strategy which will be published later this year.

Work Coaches provide individual, tailored support to all customers, this includes advice to parents on childcare support or help to address their skills gaps to aid career progression.

Backed by £240m investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched on 26 November will drive forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity and work toward the long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes increasing access to Occupational Health, a digital information service for employers and the Disability Confident scheme.

Appropriate work is generally good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live.

Disabled people and people with health conditions, are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.

Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies and Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care.

In the Beckenham and Penge constituency, we have a dedicated Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) who supports learning disabled and neurodiverse customers alongside partner organisations that we work closely with.

We have a range of specialist initiatives to support people with learning disabilities and other disabled people into work. Measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants, and joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies.

As part of the Get Britain Working plan, we will be devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.

Employers play a key role in increasing employment opportunities and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, to thrive as part of the workforce. Our support to employers includes promoting a digital information service for employers to help them support disability at work and the Disability Confident scheme.

The commissioning of services for liver conditions is the responsibility of integrated care systems. Integrated care systems are responsible for decisions on commissioning health services and reviewing those services to ensure they best meet the needs of their local population.

NHS England has a Hepatobiliary and Pancreas Clinical Reference Group which provides clinical advice to NHS England in support of the commissioning of specialised services. By working in partnership with key stakeholders, the Clinical Reference Group helps drive improvements in the quality, equity, experience, efficiency, and outcomes of specialised services. The Clinical Reference Group is currently reviewing its service specification in relation to liver and pancreatic care, which is scheduled for completion before the end of the current financial year.

Residents with liver conditions across the London Borough of Bromley, including those residing in Beckenham and Penge, are supported by the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust offers a leading Liver Unit which treats a diverse range of liver conditions as well as rare diseases, alongside a tertiary treatment service for liver cancer. The trust also hosts the Institute of Liver Studies, which is a partnership between King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Kings College London.

Liver disease is a broad term for several conditions affecting the liver and pancreas, but the most prevalent cause of liver-related ill health and death is alcohol-related liver disease.

The Department allocated local authorities £267 million in 2024/25 to improve the quality and capacity of drug and alcohol treatment and recovery. An additional £105 million from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is improving treatment pathways and recovery, housing, and employment outcomes for people affected by drug and alcohol use. The London Borough of Bromley was allocated £338,703 of targeted funding in 2024/25 for drug and alcohol treatment and recovery systems.

NHS England is implementing recommendations from the Neonatal Critical Care Review (2019) by investing £45 million in increasing neonatal cot capacity and assigning care coordinators for all Neonatal Operational Delivery Networks to implement care programmes, improving parent and family experiences.

The Government continues to work with NHS England as it delivers its 3-year maternity and neonatal plan to grow its workforce, develop a culture of safety, and ensure women receive safe, compassionate care. NHS England has made good progress already, with 548 full-time equivalent (FTE) cot-side nurses having been recruited to expand the neonatal workforce, as well as the consultant obstetrician workforce increasing to 1,968 FTE. NHS England has funded a lead midwife focusing on retention for every trust, with the retention programme continuing in 2024/25.

Additionally, neonatal nurses can undertake a Qualification in Specialty (QIS) training for neonatal care. This enables them to provide a higher level of care to critically ill or premature babies and offer crucial support to other nurses in the daily care of these babies.

While there are outstanding examples of maternity and neonatal care, there are also real issues that need to be addressed. We are determined to ensure that all women and their babies receive safe, personalised, and compassionate care, but improvements will take time to implement.

We have committed to develop a 10-year plan to deliver a National Health Service fit for the future. As we work to develop and finalise the plan, I would encourage those concerned about maternity care to engage with that process so we can identify what the potential solutions are. Further information is available at the following link:

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

The Government recognises that experiencing a baby loss can be an extremely difficult time and we are determined to make sure all women, babies and their families receive safe, personalised and compassionate care, particularly when things go wrong.

Many trusts have specialist bereavement midwives, who are trained to care for and support parents and families who have suffered the loss of their baby. All trusts are now signed up to The National Bereavement Care Pathway, which acts as a set of standards and guidance that trusts should follow when a patient has suffered a baby loss.

Paid Parental Bereavement Leave was introduced in 2020. This entitlement is available to parents who lose a child under 18 years old, including where a baby is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

In February 2024, the Department launched the Baby Loss Certificate service. This service is a non-statutory, voluntary scheme to enable those who have experienced any pregnancy loss to record and receive a certificate to provide recognition of their loss if they wish to do so.

To reduce bureaucracy in the National Health Service, on 4 October 2024, the Government and NHS England launched a Red Tape Challenge to address bureaucracy between primary and secondary care and give our health professionals back time to do what they do best. As part of the Red Tape Challenge there has been close engagement with professionals across primary care to learn more about what works and what needs to change.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary focused on action on climate and nature at the UN General Assembly and with Commonwealth leaders at CHOGM. We will send a strong delegation to COP29, including the new the UK Special Representative for Climate.

We are seizing the opportunity of this year's three COPs on biodiversity, climate and desertification, to drive international progress with partners. This will include building a Global Clean Power Alliance, taking our mission to make the UK a Clean Energy Superpower to the international stage, and pushing for an ambitious new climate finance goal at COP29.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in Beckenham and Penge, and across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with banks to roll out 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. These will provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services. Over 100 banking hubs are already open.

The Government has set out a Plan for Change, outlining our ambitious yet achievable milestones, including raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom to ensure working people have more money in their pockets and delivering the highest sustained economic growth in the G7.

Specific actions already taken by the Government to support low paid workers include: increasing to the National Living Wage from April 2025; extending the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales in 2025-26; and introducing a new Fair Repayment Rate from April 2025 to cap debt repayments made through Universal Credit.

We are clear that catapults should not be used for illegal purposes, whether against wildlife, people or property.

The law already provides the police with powers relating to the use of any item as an offensive weapon including a catapult, for example if used with anti-social behaviour or for criminal damage.

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, there are also offences around injuring and inflicting unnecessary suffering on wildlife. These measures give the police powers to deal with cases where wildlife is attacked, including cases involving the misuse of catapults.

We continue to keep all relevant legislation under review in the interests of public safety.