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Tag: Thames Water

  • Morning Star Editorial: The neoliberal model of privatised water is sunk

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/neoliberal-model-privatised-water-sunk

     A tanker from Thames Water

    INVESTMENT in Britain’s water utilities took a dive under Thatcher’s government. By 1980 investment by the regional water authorities dropped by two-thirds as the neoliberal straitjacket into which public expenditure was confined limited their ability to raise capital.

    Contrast this to the present situation where the now privatised water companies have racked up millions in loans that seem more valued as a source of ready cash to pay bonuses, dividends and sweeteners than infrastructure investment.

    The total debt burden of the dozen privately owned water companies stands at £65 billion which this year’s Commons report says is perilously close to the 70 per cent gearing at which commercial credibility is compromised.

    Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, which has been involved in legal challenges to a number of water companies, says: “The water sector has been poorly regulated for decades. It has been poorly regulated primarily by allowing water companies to over extract water from aquifers and reservoirs but also cash from operating entities within the water companies, and they’ve been allowed to underinvest in water infrastructure.”

    …

    The logical case for public ownership is sometimes challenged by the suggestion that taking these failing enterprises into public ownership would be prohibitively expensive.

    This is, of course, true if these enterprises were to offered for sale at the price their owners value them. A socialist government armed with a popular mandate and backed by a working class armed with both resolve and the necessary instruments of coercion might simply dispossess these rapacious incompetents and instruct them, individually and as a class, to find an alternative way of making a living freed of the responsibilities of ownership.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/neoliberal-model-privatised-water-sunk

  • Outrage as Thames Water allowed to pay just a fifth of record pollution fines

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/outrage-thames-water-allowed-pay-just-fifth-record-pollution-fines

     A Thames Water van

    THAMES WATER will only have to pay a fifth of its record £122.7 million in fines under a “sweetheart deal,” with industry regulator Ofwat branded “outrageous” by water campaigners today.

    The heavily indebted utility firm was handed the penalties in May for failures over sewage treatment and paying out dividends.

    It has already passed a deadline for paying them by August 20 but has now agreed to pay only a fifth by the end of next month, with the remainder subject to securing a private rescue deal and cash injection.

    Ofwat said that it had set a final “backstop date” of March 31 2030 for payment of the remaining penalties whether or not Britain’s biggest water company avoids insolvency.

    It would have 30 calendar days to pay up after securing such a deal or at the end of an insolvency process that would see it placed into a government special administration scheme.

    River Action chief executive James Wallace said: “It is outrageous that Thames Water has been allowed to kick its fine down the road.

    “This fine must be paid by those responsible, not future owners and investors.

    “Ordinary people do not get to walk into court and say, ‘I’ll pay the rest of my penalty if I get a better paying job.’ Yet that is exactly the sweetheart deal Thames Water has secured.

    “This is not accountability. The investors who drained the company and pocketed £170 million in dividends in October 2023 and March 2024 may never feel the consequences.

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/outrage-thames-water-allowed-pay-just-fifth-record-pollution-fines

    April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)
    April 2023 Surfers Against Sewage and Extinction Rebellion protests in St Agnes, Perranporth, Truro and Charlestown which unveiled spoof Blue Plaques to the MPs and Conservative Government who allowed raw sewage to be dumped in the sea (Image: Surfers Against Sewage)

  • Environmental charity files legal challenge over government’s inaction on Thames Water

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/environmental-charity-files-legal-challenge-over-governments-inaction-thames-water

     Thames Water delivering a temporary water supply from a tanker, August 2022

    ENVIRONMENTAL charity River Action filed a legal challenge today against the government’s lack of preparation for temporary nationalisation of floundering water companies.

    The group argues that Environment Secretary Steve Reed has acted unlawfully by failing to develop or publish policy on when he would put failing firms into special administration.

    Campaigners pointed to Thames Water as a clear candidate for special administration, citing repeated breaches of its statutory and licence obligations.

    Thames was revealed earlier this month to be the worst polluter of all the water firms in Britain, accounting for 44 per cent of incidents classified as “serious.”

    …

    River Action head of legal Emma Dearnaley said: “The government has the power but won’t use it, or even explain when it might trigger this process.

    “Apparently, the government has no policy at all. That’s a fundamental failure of transparency and accountability — and it’s unlawful.”

    She added: “We need water companies that serve customers and protect our rivers, not prioritise financial returns to investors.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/environmental-charity-files-legal-challenge-over-governments-inaction-thames-water

  • Pollution figures ‘the latest indicator of a water sector in total chaos’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pollution-figures-latest-indicator-water-sector-total-chaos

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

    CALLS to nationalise the water sector intensified yesterday after it emerged that serious pollution incidents in England jumped by 60 per cent last year.

    The Environment Agency reported 75 major incidents that fell under categories one and two, which can severely harm the environment and human health.

    Serious incidents doubled from 14 to 33 at crisis-hit Thames Water, the watchdog found.

    Southern Water was responsible for 15 of the incidents and Yorkshire Water for 13.

    Pollution incidents across all categories had increased by 29 per cent, with 2,801 recorded last year. 

    Thames Water recorded the most incidents again at 523, followed by Anglian Water (482) and United Utilities (376).

    The rise was attributed to underinvestment in new infrastructure, poor asset maintenance and reduced resilience due to the impacts of climate change. 

    We Own It founder Cat Hobbs said the figures “are the latest indicator of a water sector in total chaos.

    “The roots of this chaos extend all the way back to when Thatcher privatised water in the 1980s — effectively flogging the family silver for a quick buck.

    “Since then, private shareholders have stuffed their pockets with gold, amassing £80 billion in payouts. 

    “They’ve killed our rivers and let the infrastructure crumble, while bill-payers pick up the tab.

    “Recent research shows that the cost of public ownership could be close to zero. This solution could also save the public £3-5bn a year, making publicly owned water a source of income for the Treasury.”

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  • Troubled Thames Water reveals ballooning debts and losses for the past year

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/troubled-thames-water-reveals-ballooning-debts-and-losses-past-year

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

    THAMES WATER’s debts have ballooned to £16.8 billion and it made a loss of £1.65bn in the year to March, the company revealed today, sparking fresh calls for renationalisation.

    Appearing before the Commons environment committee, chief executive Chris Weston admitted that the company was “extremely stressed” and would take “at least a decade to turn around.”

    Britain’s largest water supplier also revealed a sharp increase in pollution incidents over the past year.

    Gary Carter, a national officer at water industry union GMB, said: “Thames Water is drowning under a mountain of debt.

    “Hiking customer bills has led to a rise in operating profit, money that should go on investment but is being swallowed up by monstrous loans needed to keep the company afloat.

    “While Thames lurches from crisis to crisis, the solution is clear: it must be taken back into public ownership, with workers’ terms, conditions and pensions protected.”

    …

    Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/troubled-thames-water-reveals-ballooning-debts-and-losses-past-year