2025: Week 21 - Back to work!

After a lovely few days at home it was back to work in full swing! 

At the weekend I was invited along to a councillor surgery being held by Dawlish Town Council. Their councillors hold a monthly weekend surgery in various locations around the parish so that residents can pop along and chat to the councillors about any issues, concerns or ideas they may have.  On Saturday it was held in Dawlish Library, and we had a steady flow of residents coming to see us.  We were lucky to have councillors who covered all 4 tiers of Government, Town, District, County and parliament, and as such I hope we have been able to help answer the questions that were brought to us.  Of course there are some ongoing issues that will take some time to resolve, but we have the details and will endeavour to assist with those too.  It was a very worthwhile morning and it was lovely to see so many residents coming along to the surgery, but also fantastic to see how many people were using the library facilities, it is an amazing space and a wonderful resource to have in Dawlish.  I am hoping to do some further surgeries with Councillors across the constituency in the coming months, it is really useful to collaborate with my colleagues from councils to help streamline the often confusing obstacles that residents can face when dealing with local and national government. 

This week saw the publication of an interim review into the water industry by Sir Jon Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Government.  The review found that there was “no simple, single change, no matter how radical, that will deliver the fundamental reset that is needed for the water sector”.  It went on to say that public trust in the water industry had been shaken by “pollution, financial difficulties, mismanagement and infrastructure failures” Whilst some campaigners don’t feel the report went far enough in it’s recommendations for change, and as the author was prevented from considering public ownership in his remit there has been criticism that the report reads like a sales pitch to overseas investors, there is a clear message contained therein; that the regulator (Ofwat) is not fit for purpose. 

This report makes it painfully clear that at the heart of the sewage scandal is a regulatory system which has failed. It's going to take more than a hose down to clean up the water industry. It’s time for Ofwat to go and the Commission must now make this plain. If Ofwat remains in name or nature, the Government will have failed in their aims to improve our waterways and address public outrage with serious regulatory reform.  I will continue my campaign to hold South West Water to account and to replace Ofwat with a new regulator to clean up our waterways for good.