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Campaigners launch legal challenge against Ofwat for making customers pay its failures

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-against-ofwat-for-making-customers-pay-its-failures

People take part in the Clean Water march in central London, to demand tougher action on keeping Britain’s rivers and seas clean, November 3, 2024

CAMPAIGNERS launched a legal challenge against Ofwat today, accusing the water regulator of unlawfully forcing customers to foot the bill for decades of neglect by the industry.

River Action launched the challenge on the same day water bills per year in England and Wales increased by an average of £123.

The challenge centres on Ofwat’s 2024 price review, which granted “enhanced funding” to United Utilities.

Campaigners say that the regulator failed to ensure the extra funds would be spent on new water and sewage projects instead of fixing historic issues.

River Action argues that such decisions mean that customers could be forced to pay twice for failing infrastructure: once through previous water bills and again through upcoming charges.

Alarmingly, campaigners warned that Ofwat relies on using simulation modelling to forecast sewage infrastructure capacity rather than real-world data when making its funding decisions.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-launch-legal-challenge-against-ofwat-for-making-customers-pay-its-failures

Continue ReadingCampaigners launch legal challenge against Ofwat for making customers pay its failures

Morning Star Editorial: Public services can’t wear further cuts – Reeves must be stopped

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-public-services-cant-wear-further-cuts-reeves-must-be-stopped

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves arrives to meet students on the carpentry course during a visit to Bury College in Greater Manchester, March 20, 2025

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Fourteen years of Tory rule have cut services to the bone. The notion that “efficiency savings” can slice off further billions without worsening already degraded services is absurd.

Ironically, the cuts are intended to fund increased military spending — though if there is a department renowned for waste it is the Ministry of Defence. The MoD is repeatedly excoriated by the public accounts committee for the huge sums squandered on projects that end up delayed by years or not delivered at all.

Current Defence Secretary John Healey, when in the shadow cabinet, published a report identifying billions it had overspent on projects and billions more paid for cancelled contracts with its often extortionate suppliers. The report noted that the MoD had even been fined £32.6 million by the Treasury for its “poor accounting practices.” Yet it is this department which is having more billions thrown its way.

As for extortionate suppliers, the evidence is plain that besides tying institutions from hospitals to schools into contracts forcing them to repay PFI debts worth multiples of the original loans, many such agreements also tie them into inflexible and costly servicing contracts.

Outsourcing services is massively inefficient, yet remains the norm, despite Reeves’s one-time promise to deliver “the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.”

As the Prison Officers Association (POA) points out of outsourced prison maintenance, we end up paying through the nose for “crumbling cells, compromised safety and rodent-infested jails.”

“We do not for one minute accept that the privatised model of prison maintenance is more cost effective than insourcing … it is completely delusional to claim it provides best value for the taxpayer,” POA general secretary Steve Gillan observes.

Clearly value for money is not Reeves’s priority — corporate profits are, including at the Treasury’s expense.

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Read the original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/editorial-public-services-cant-wear-further-cuts-reeves-must-be-stopped

Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the "hard times".
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.
Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.
Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.
Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Public services can’t wear further cuts – Reeves must be stopped

Greens call for water companies to be taken into public hands as Environment secretary visits polluted Windemere

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Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.

Green Party Co-Leader Adrian Ramsay MP has poured cold water on today’s visit by Environment Secretary Steve Reed to Lake Windemere and the announcement that United Utilities will invest £200m into upgrading 10 wastewater treatment works at Windermere. He said:

“The government is today trumpeting its “Things Can Only Get Cleaner” tour. But the reality is that can only happen if we take back control of our water.

“United Utilities offers a prime example of the failed privatisation experiment with our water.

“More than 140 million litres of waste were pumped into Windermere by the corporation between 2021 and 2023 at times when it was not permitted.

“The company then took legal action to try to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere. That failed.

“So the company has now belatedly agreed to invest £200m in cleaning up Lake Windemere. But it’s been dragged kicking and screaming to act.

“United Utilities has spent years focussed on paying out dividends to shareholders and fat cat salaries rather than treating sewage.

“The Group’s CEO has amassed around £1.41m a year in salary and bonuses and the company will pay its investors – which include some of the world’s biggest asset managers – £339m in dividends this year, up from £310m for 2023. This hike follows reported higher operating profits thanks to a rise in customer bills. All this puts the £200m investment into Windemere into sharp focus.

“It’s time to bring United Utilities and all water companies back into public hands so that our bills can be used to improve the service rather than being siphoned off into the pockets of shareholders.”

Continue ReadingGreens call for water companies to be taken into public hands as Environment secretary visits polluted Windemere

New report on rebuilding NHS ‘lays bare the truth’ about privatisation, Labour MP says

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/new-report-rebuilding-nhs-lays-bare-truth-about-privatisation-labour-mp-says

A general view of staff on a NHS hospital ward

INCREASED NHS funding during the last Labour government masks how privatisation reduced its efficiency, says a groundbreaking new expert report which was launched in Parliament this week.

The Rational Policy-maker’s Guide to Rebuilding the NHS was produced by academics and NHS professionals at the 99% Organisation and Keep Our NHS Public (KONP).

Cross-party MPs, policy-makers attended the event sponsored by Labour MP Richard Burgon.

Today he said: “This report lays bare the truth that underfunding and creeping privatisation have left our NHS in crisis. But there is a way forward.

“Proper public investment and a commitment to keeping the NHS free at the point of use can rebuild our health service and improve patient outcomes.

“The government must take note: this is not just about economics, it’s about saving lives.”

The report warned that ministers “must skilfully avoid the pitfalls of the past” Labour government, including failing to tackle social care.

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Founder of the 99% Organisation Mark E Thomas said: “There is no dispute that the NHS is struggling badly, but there is certainly dispute about how to fix it.

“This report demonstrates that calls for further privatisation or an insurance-based system would be catastrophic for both public health and the economy.

“The only viable solution is proper funding, preventive healthcare investment, and tackling the root causes of ill health, including poverty.”

KONP co-chair Dr John Puntis said: “Decades of market-driven policies have eroded our NHS.

“This report makes it clear that the way forward is not more outsourcing or corporate involvement, but a properly funded, publicly run health service that puts patients before profit.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/new-report-rebuilding-nhs-lays-bare-truth-about-privatisation-labour-mp-says

Continue ReadingNew report on rebuilding NHS ‘lays bare the truth’ about privatisation, Labour MP says

Thames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan

A tanker pumps out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire, January 10 ,2024

Customers will bear brunt of sky-high interest rates though increased bills, campaigners warn

THAMES WATER’S £3 billion bailout was approved by the High Court today, triggering outrage as campaigners warned of higher bills from sky-high interest payments.

The High Court cleared the loan just weeks before the debt-laden firm was due to run out of money, temporarily staving off the possibility of special administration and temporary nationalisation.

Former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher wrote off the debts of Britain’s water firms when the industry was privatised in 1989.

But Thames Water, which serves 16 million customers, has since siphoned off £7.2bn in dividends, while amassing £19bn worth of debt.

In his judgment, Justice Leech noted that the headline interest rate on the emergency loan, which stands at 9.75 per cent was “very, very high.”

The Financial Times reported that the bailout could incur as much as £800 million in interest and fees.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/thames-water-rewarded-for-years-of-mismanagement-with-ps3bn-emergency-loan

Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the "hard times".
Keir Starmer commits to play the caretaker role for Capitalism through the “hard times”.
Continue ReadingThames Water ‘rewarded for years of mismanagement’ with £3bn emergency loan