00:00It is clear that the water industry in this country is broken.
00:06Our rivers, lakes and seas are polluted with record levels of sewage.
00:14Water pipes have been left to crumble into disrepair. Soaring water bills are straining
00:22family finances. There are hose pipe bands across the country right now because not a single new
00:30reservoir has been built in over 30 years. The lack of water infrastructure is holding back
00:39economic growth. Water companies have been allowed to profit at the expense of the British people
00:48when they should have been investing to fix our broken water pipes.
00:54A broken regulatory system let them get away with this. Failing customers, investors
01:02and the environment. This government will cut water companies sewage pollution in half within five
01:11years. This is the most ambitious sewage reduction target that any government has ever set.
01:20Over a decade of national renewal we will restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health.
01:28I agree with Sir John that water regulation has been too weak and too ineffective. Having four
01:36separate regulators with overlapping and conflicting remits has created a merry-go-round that has failed customers
01:45and the environment. Ofwat has failed to protect customers from water companies mismanagement of their
01:54hard-earned money. So today I can announce that the Labour government will abolish Ofwat.
02:02In the biggest overhaul of water regulation in a generation we will bring water functions from four
02:12different regulators into one. A single powerful regulator responsible for the entire water sector.
02:23There are four further recommendations that the government can accept immediately and I will outline
02:28those in parliaments this afternoon.
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