This week is Local Democracy Week, and to mark the occasion I visit Paringdon Junior School. The head teacher Ms Pepper updates me on the school's approach to involving pupils in decision-making, and the development of the school council.

I spend a while chatting with the head boy, head girl and school councillors, who have lots of questions and comments about what's going on in the area. We agree that I'll come back and meet the school councillors again - their views are important.

On the way out, we pop into the school hall, where the floor is still badly damaged following the summer's sewage floods. The head teacher assures me that the school will be represented at Harlow Council's scrutiny enquiry into the flooding and what the major agencies such as Thames Water and Essex County Council are going to do to sort the situation out. Thames Water, of course, has just been sold by its German owners to a group led by an Australian bank, for £8 billion, including £3.2 billion of net debt. Commentators are already speculating how much debt the new owners will run up on the Thames Water business - and how it will address Thames' atrocious performance on leaks and water waste.