A tanker pumping out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire which flooded after heavy rainfall, January 10, 2024
WATER COMPANY fat cats are being rewarded for decades of criminal behaviour, a Labour MP said today after the industry regulator announced an average £86 bill hike from April.
Clive Lewis said billpayers are paying for crooks as he called for water firms to be nationalised and Ofwat abolished.
The MP for Norwich South said: “Ofwat is making us pay for decades of criminal behaviour by water companies.
“The regulator turned a blind eye to years of these companies’ widespread illegal sewage dumping.
“Privatisation is a failed experiment. We deserve a public ownership model prioritising people and the environment over profit.”
Ofwat said that the steep rise is part of bill increases in England and Wales over the next five years that will pay for supply upgrades and to reduce sewage discharges.
This is despite water companies doubling their profits since 2019.
People take part in the Clean Water march in central London, to demand tougher action on keeping the UK’s rivers and seas clean, November 3, 2024
THE River Action campaign has hired a top litigator as it intensifies efforts to hold polluters account and restore Britain’s waterways.
Emma Dearnaley, previously legal director at the Good Law Project, will join the group as its new head of legal in January.
She fought several cases in her former job, including a successful challenge against the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs that led to the government expanding the scope of its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan to include coastal waters.
River Action chief executive James Wallace said: “This is a shot across the bow for polluters and the government alike.
“The law is one of our strongest tools, not only to compel polluters to repair and update their infrastructure but also to compel the government to adequately fund environmental regulators.
“After 14 years of budget cuts, it’s time for the Environment Agency to have the resources to enforce the law against agricultural, sewage and chemical polluters and for Ofwat to stop water companies polluting for profit.”
Surfers Against Sewage paddle-outs involve local communities coming together to protest against water companies dumping sewage in the oceans and rivers they use for watersports and swimming. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Ofwat is opening enforcement cases into four more water companies, meaning it is now investigating every single water and wastewater firm in England and Wales for the mismanagement of their networks and treatment.
The notices follow a what Ofwat described as a “detailed” analysis of information on firms’ environmental performance and data about the regularity of their spills from storm overflows.
The regulator believes the four firms may not be fulfilling their obligation to protect the environment and minimise pollution, meaning that it is now investigating all 11 water companies in England and Wales.
Investigations into Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South West Water and Thames Water, which last week was effectively placed into special measures by Ofwat, are ongoing from 2022, while Southern Water is still subject to monitoring following a case that dates back to 2019.
David Black, Ofwat’s chief executive, said: ““The fact that Ofwat now has enforcement cases with all 11 of the wastewater companies in England and Wales demonstrates how concerned we are about the sector’s environmental performance.
‘There is a growing perception that the water industry cares more about profit than the service it provides.’
Public trust in water companies has hit a new low.Less than one in four people believe water companies will help protect the environment.
Just 23 percent of water consumers in England and Wales say they trust their water companies to “do what’s right for the environment,” marking a 9 percent drop from 31 percent two years ago.
These were the findings of a consumer survey commissioned by Ofwat and the consumer watchdog Consumer Council for Water (CCW). The Savanta study was conducted between December 4 and 18, 2023. It surveyed 2,399 UK adults in England and Wales.
The research found that satisfaction with the quality of water services has fallen to 58 percent from 65 percent in 2021. Similarly, consumer satisfaction with wastewater and drainage services has dropped to 49 percent from 56 percent.
The water regulator Ofwat says the findings underscore the importance of the need for a transformative change in the water sector, so that it “delivers better outcomes for customers and the environment.”
In July, Thames Water had agreed £750m of funding, with the first payment expected to be made on 31 March. Photograph: Maureen McLean/Shutterstock
Decision raises concerns about financial future of UK’s biggest water company
Investors at Thames Water have pulled the plug on £500m of emergency funding, raising concerns about the financial future of the country’s largest water company.
The beleaguered utilities firm announced this morning that its shareholders had refused to provide the first tranche of £750m funding set to secure its short-term cashflow, after the company had failed to meet certain conditions.
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The crisis for Thames Water comes after devastating data on the scale of raw sewage discharges into rivers and seas this week.
Thames Water, who admit in their business plan they have been “sweating assets”, oversaw a 163% [increase?] in the duration of sewage dumping into rivers as their creaking infrastructure failed to cope with rainfall levels.
Thames is also at the centre of a major investigation by the water regulator Ofwat into sewage dumping from its treatment works, which could lead to massive financial penalties being imposed on the company.
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Thames Water said on Wednesday that investors believed the conditions of funding had not been met and the £500m of new equity would not be handed over in the coming days.
A statement on behalf of Thames’s shareholders appeared to blame Ofwat: “After more than a year of negotiations with the regulator, Ofwat has not been prepared to provide the necessary regulatory support for a business plan which ultimately addresses the issues that Thames Water faces. As a result, shareholders are not in a position to provide further funding to Thames Water.
“Shareholders will work constructively with Thames Water, Ofwat and government on how to address the consequences of Ofwat’s decision.”
