Speaking at the House of Lords yesterday during the Bill’s report stage, Lord de Mauley said he would take table an amendment allowing for retail exit during the third reading.
The government has come under increasing pressure from the industry to include an exit clause in the Water Bill but has claimed it would risk having a negative impact on household customers.
However, a number of water companies as well as the Defra select committee and Ofwat have come out in support of an exit clause.
Conservative Lord Moynihan, who initially tabled an amendment on retail exit, said he was “pleased and not a little surprised” that the government intended to table an amendment along lines he would “strongly support”.
Two other amendments proposed by Labour – one that called for a commitment to abstraction reform before upstream competition is introduced and one that called for a national affordability scheme, were defeated by the government.