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Flood and Water Management Bill

I assure my hon. Friend that we will take that work into account. The council has done a very good sensitivity analysis of the extent to which people are willing to bear some sort of burden. There is one matter that I want to knock on the head. We had a very good debate in Westminster Hall the other day, when we discussed possibilities for dealing with the legacy issues in the south-west that arise from the original privatisation of the water companies. I said that the idea of a seasonal tariff was one of about six, seven or a dozen options, but it is not for me as a Minister to say that is the only one that we should take up. In fact, Anna Walker made it clear that a package of measures might need to be brought forward. Contrary to speculation in the Western Morning News and other newspapers, I am not advocating any particular approach. We need a proper consultation with the wide consumer base before any measure is brought forward. No stealth tax is being imposed, and the fact that we are having this debate in full public view on the Floor of the House shows our desire to get the balance right. A few Members mentioned the Ofwat review, so let me reiterate what I said, because many of the proposed changes before us relate to Ofwat's remit. We absolutely acknowledge that we need to take a fundamental look at its remit so that it is fit to meet what are quite changed circumstances from those when privatisation occurred. We need to do so in recognition of the fact that the review must feature not only the proposed changes before us, but other contemporary and long-term issues. That is the appropriate way to undertake such work. Ofwat will do its own post-match review following PR09, but we need to engage not only with the regulator, but with wider stakeholders on a review of how we meet climate change and sustainability objectives. The right hon. Member for Wokingham was right to say that the proposed changes are well intentioned, and the definition of sustainable water management should indeed be part of that review.