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Water firms banned from handing bonuses to bosses

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-firms-banned-handing-bonuses-bosses

 A tanker from Thames Water

SIX water companies have been banned from paying bonuses to senior bosses under new rules that came into force today.

Thames Water, Yorkshire Water, Anglian Water, Wessex Water, United Utilities and Southern Water were all included in the ban, which covers the 2024-25 financial year.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed warned companies would be “extremely foolish” to try getting around the new ban by increasing salaries.

He warned water companies should avoid moves that would lose the “confidence” of customers and said there was a need to “rebuild their broken relationship.”

“Customers are furious at the fact that they’re seeing local waterways being polluted, but bosses taking multimillion-pound bonuses,” he told Times Radio.

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Continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-firms-banned-handing-bonuses-bosses

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Morning Star Editorial: Even record-breaking fines won’t touch Thames Water. Nationalise it

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/even-record-breaking-fines-wont-touch-thames-water-nationalise-it

 A worker from Thames Water delivering a temporary water supply from a tanker to the village of Northend in Oxfordshire

THAMES Water’s record fines for sewage spills and improper dividends only underline our inability to hold water companies to account.

Water regulator Ofwat is hardly blameless when it comes to the supplier’s crippling debts, amassed by unscrupulous transnational corporations to shower their shareholders in cash — safe in the knowledge that when an essential service goes bust, it’s the British public that foots the bill.

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Ofwat is a captured regulator, and not just because chairman Iain Coucher (who made a fortune in another publicly subsidised privatised service, the railway, and who has named his extensive Sound of Jura estate Iainland) has been caught enjoying the hospitality of the water companies (as has Steve Reed).

Its negotiations with water firms on price hikes have allowed steep rises in household bills despite the rotten state of the network, which they say they have to pay to repair, being the direct result of their own mismanagement.

As Weston has himself made clear before parliamentary committees, making a privatised water firm pay for its crimes will simply see investors pull out, forcing the government to rescue it. Fines for bad behaviour are just one of the recognised business costs they weigh against the greater cost of water companies investing in infrastructure and repairs, or delivering a value-for-money service.

Designing elaborate regulatory regimes to stop capitalists behaving like capitalists hasn’t worked any better for water than it has for energy. It’s a con, and the only way to ensure our water supply is managed in the public interest is to take it into public hands.

See the original article at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/even-record-breaking-fines-wont-touch-thames-water-nationalise-it

Continue ReadingMorning Star Editorial: Even record-breaking fines won’t touch Thames Water. Nationalise it

Minister hails ‘remarkable turnaround’ of renationalised train operator

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/minister-hails-remarkable-turnaround-renationalised-train-operator

 A TransPennine Express train at Leeds train station, April, 2019

A TRAIN operator renationalised two years ago has performed a “remarkable turnaround,” the rail minister said today.

Lord Hendy described TransPennine Express (TPE) as “the blueprint for Great British Railways (GBR).”

TPE was brought back into public ownership in May 2023 under the Tories due to poor performance.

Since then, cancellations have fallen by 75 per cent and passenger journeys have increased by 42 per cent.

Now operated by the Department for Transport Operator (DFTO), the service generated £1.4 billion during 2023-24.

Britain’s train services were privatised in the mid-1990s.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/minister-hails-remarkable-turnaround-renationalised-train-operator

Continue ReadingMinister hails ‘remarkable turnaround’ of renationalised train operator

Campaigners call for end to water privatisation as Thames Water fined over sewage

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-call-end-water-privatisation-thames-water-fined-over-sewage

 A tanker from Thames Water, August 2022

CAMPAIGNERS called for an end to water privatisation as Thames Water was today fined a record £122.7 million for breaking rules over sewage treatment and paying out dividends.

An investigation into Britain’s biggest water supplier revealed “a series of failures by the company to build, maintain and operate adequate infrastructure,” said water regulator Ofwat.

Nearly £170m of dividend payments by Thames in October 2023 and March 2024 were not justified in “a clear-cut case where Thames Water has let down its customers and failed to protect the environment,” said Ofwat chief executive David Black.

We Own It founder and director Cat Hobbs said: “None of this changes the underlying problem — as long as water is privatised, we will continue to be ripped off, and rivers will continue to be polluted for profit.”

River Action chief James Wallace added that “nothing will change unless the privatisation of Thames Water stops.” He urged Environment Secretary Steve Reed to “put this failing company into special administration and restructure its ownership and governance so it can be owned by and operated for public benefit.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-call-end-water-privatisation-thames-water-fined-over-sewage

Continue ReadingCampaigners call for end to water privatisation as Thames Water fined over sewage

Thames Water fined £122.7m in biggest ever penalty

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgeg5vy9q8eo

Thames Water has been fined £122.7m for breaching of rules relating to its sewage operations and shareholder payouts.

It is the biggest ever penalty issued by the water regulator Ofwat.

The regulator said the fines followed its “biggest and most complex investigation” and confirmed it would be paid by the company and its investors, not by customers.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We take our responsibility towards the environment very seriously.”

The fine issued by the water industry watchdog has ordered Thames Water to pay a £104.5m penalty for breaches of rules connected to its sewage operations.

That is on top of an additional penalty of £18.2m for breaches relating to shareholder payouts – known as dividends. It is the first time Ofwat has fined a water company over “undeserved dividends”.

Thames Water is currently in “cash lock up” and no further dividend payments can be paid without approval from Ofwat.

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Original article at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgeg5vy9q8eo

Continue ReadingThames Water fined £122.7m in biggest ever penalty