MPs will vote on means-testing winter fuel payments, says leader of the Commons – UK politics live

Lucy Powell says MPs will vote on plans on Tuesday next week as government plans to limit payments to only poorest pensioners

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, has given a speech this morning on his plans to tighten the laws on water regulation. The press release from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is here, and here is Helena Horton’s preview story from last night.

In the light of the report, a reader asks:

Andrew the announcement re water bosses from Steve Reed looks pretty strong to me, but Feargal Sharkey, who even campaigned for Labour, says it’s a missed opportunity . What am I missing?

Feargal thinks this because he has been calling for Ofwat and the Environment Agency to be reformed and Labour is not doing this. They do not use their current powers and have incentivised water companies not to invest, while turning a blind eye to large dividend payments to shareholders. Asking Ofwat and the EA to use their existing powers doesn’t require new legislation, nor does doing things like taking away the Tory-introduced growth order which asks Ofwat to prioritise growth over the environment.

He thinks that the government should be more serious about putting failing water companies in special measures, and that if they are put in special measures then the shareholders who have made money out of the mismanagement of water companies should pay for it, not the taxpayer. In fact, this new bill is going to make it so operating costs on special administration get passed to billpayers if the sale of the water company does not cover these costs - and if Thames is sold for a very low price after going into special administration and this may need to happen. Continue reading...