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Flood and Water Management Bill

I do, indeed, agree, and my hon. Friend makes an extremely powerful point. This Bill has shown what can be achieved if one enters into debate and discussion in the right spirit. Many organisations have also been involved in helping us as a House to get the Bill right, and I place on the record our gratitude to them. I single out the religious groups, scout groups and others, whose very strong views on the unfairness that they faced in effect created clause 43, which allows for concessionary charges to be put in place for community groups. The truth is that theirs was an extremely doughty campaign. It was well argued, they were very forceful and they had an enormous effect for one simple reason: they had a really good point about their circumstances. The Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), who had said throughout that we would find a way of sorting out the situation one way or the other, was as good as his word, and the Bill is proof of that, because it now safeguards community and religious groups against unaffordable increases in their surface water drainage charges.