water companies

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

Spread the love
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

Water company fat cats are ‘making us pay for decades of criminal behaviour’

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-company-fat-cats-are-making-us-pay-for-decades-of-criminal-behaviour

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.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/water-company-fat-cats-are-making-us-pay-for-decades-of-criminal-behaviour

Continue ReadingWater company fat cats are ‘making us pay for decades of criminal behaviour’

Green Party reaction to government and regulators ‘breaking law’ over sewage spills

Spread the love
Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party Co-leader. Wikipedia CC.
Adrian Ramsay MP, Green Party Co-leader. Wikipedia CC.

Reacting to news that government and regulators have broken the law by being too lenient on water companies that spill sewage, and on the day Thames Water seeks a £3bn bailout, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP said: 

“For too long billions have been leaking out to shareholders instead of going into fixing our broken water system. But it will be water customers who are expected to bail out this failed model of privatisation through steep hikes to water bills.  

“The way to end this fiasco and ensure government and regulators keep within the law is to put failing water companies into special administration and ultimately to bring water back into public ownership.”  

Continue ReadingGreen Party reaction to government and regulators ‘breaking law’ over sewage spills

Why won’t Labour even consider putting water companies back into public hands ask Greens

Spread the love
Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

Responding to the news that a new independent commission will soon launch the largest review of the water industry since privatisation in the 1980s, Green Party Co-Leader, Carla Denyer said,

“Water is a basic human need. It should be in public hands run for people, not profit. I don’t know why Labour won’t even consider this.”

Continue ReadingWhy won’t Labour even consider putting water companies back into public hands ask Greens

Environmental groups call for mass rally to demand action on water pollution

Spread the love

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/environmental-groups-call-mass-rally-demand-action-water-pollution

A tanker pumping out excess sewage from the Lightlands Lane sewage pumping station in Cookham, Berskhire which flooded after heavy rainfall, January 10, 2024

ENVIRONMENTAL groups called on the public today to mobilise this autumn and ramp up pressure on the government to tackle Britain’s water pollution crisis.

River Action, Surfers Against Sewage and Greenpeace are among the groups who will join the March for Clean Water in Central London on October 26.

It will mark the end of the first 100 days of the Labour government, and take place just days before Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first Budget.

An escalating water crisis looms, driven by factors such as ageing infrastructure, lack of investment from water firms and industrial pollution.

More than 3.6 million hours of raw sewage discharges poured into rivers and seas last year — a 105 per cent increase compared with 2022.

…

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/environmental-groups-call-mass-rally-demand-action-water-pollution

Continue ReadingEnvironmental groups call for mass rally to demand action on water pollution