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Measures to allow water companies to exit the retail market, following the introduction of competition, are among a number of proposed amendments expected from Labour when the Water Bill reaches its next milestone tomorrow.
The Bill will face line by line examination during its report stage at the House of Lords on Tuesday (26th March).
Labour’s Lord Whitty will propose an amendment on retail exit and while the government has not ruled out revisiting the issue in the future, Water Minister Dan Rogerson has said it would risk “a bad outcome for household customers”.
Whitty will also call for a national affordability scheme and an amendment that would require landlords to supply water companies with the details of their tenants, in an attempt to tackle bad debt.
The government has already proposed amendments to its Bill to tackle over-abstraction, which will require Ofwat to consult on the environmental impacts before approving the bulk transfer of water between companies.
However, critics have called for more substantial abstraction reforms and Lord de Mauley has called for an amendment requiring the secretary of state to compile a report on abstraction reform to be laid out before Parliament within five years after the act is passed.
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