Reading West MP Martin Salter gave a strong welcome today to a range of measures outlined in the Queen’s Speech which sets out the Government’s last legislative programme before next spring’s General Election.

Mr Salter had been actively lobbying for the inclusion of a number of specific measures including a new Floods and Water Bill. This was contained in the Queen’s Speech along with plans to regulate bankers pay and bonuses, a new system of guarantees for parents and pupils including personal tuition for those who fall behind at school, a new right for NHS patients to get their treatment within 18 weeks or be paid to receive it privately with cancer sufferers having access to a specialist within two weeks, a commitment to giving free personal care for the most vulnerable elderly people in their own homes and a pledge to use social tariffs to cut energy bills for low income households.

For many years Mr Salter has been campaigning for a change in the law to end the current anomaly whereby drains and sewers can be privately owned, often without the knowledge of the householders, leaving them liable for hefty repair bills in the event of a blockage or collapse in the main system. This followed the campaign he fought on the Haddocks Estate in Tilehurst in 2001 to persuade Thames Water to adopt part of a drainage system which, although located in the public road, had never been handed over by the builders to the public utilities or local authority.

The issue was progressed in the review by Sir Michael Pitt into the 2007 floods with the recommendation that all private sewers be connected to the public system, thereby releasing households from liability for service and repair. The Pitt Review also addressed, amongst its 92 recommendations, measures to combat flooding and to ensure proper emergency planning. The Government have incorporated all the Pitt recommendations into the Floods and Water Bill which forms part of today’s Queen’s Speech.

Mr Salter said:-

“Despite the forthcoming election, I am pleased that the Government has found time and space to tackle issues such as sewerage and flooding, which have caused so much concern here in Reading and West Berkshire. I promised my constituents on the Haddocks Estate in Tilehurst that I would do everything I could to end the crazy anomaly whereby householders could find themselves facing huge bills to repair a sewer collapse in the middle of a public road.  I am really pleased that it looks like this will be finally achieved before I leave Parliament next year.”

He added:-

“There are many other worthwhile measures in this Queen’s Speech and I am particularly pleased that at long last there will be proper regulation of bankers’ pay and bonuses - and quite right too, since the taxpayer has bailed many of the banks out in recent months. I also welcome the plans for NHS patients to be guaranteed their treatment within 18 weeks, and for the most vulnerable of our old folk to receive free personal care in their own homes.”