Polly has led calls from Labour MPs across the South East for the CEO of Southern Water to turn down an outrageous pay ‘incentive’ of more than £600,000, on top of his regular salary.

The MPs have written directly to Mr Gosden after it emerged he is set to receive the large payout on top of his £687,000 salary, taking his total compensation to around £1.4 million. The payment has sparked public outrage following the rolling scandals associated with the water company, including skyrocketing consumer bills, widespread sewage dumping, and water outages.

The letter comes in the wake of Southern Water being banned from paying executive bonuses under the Labour Government’s new Water (Special Measures) Act, which introduced tough new measures to hold failing water companies accountable. Despite the ban, the company claims this latest payout is not technically a “bonus” and is therefore still allowed – a moved branded “outrageous” by the Environment Secretary, and as “pure greed” by the MPs in their letter.

Polly and the MP for Hastings and Rye, Helena Dollimore MP, organised the letter which has been signed by every Labour MP whose constituents are Southern Water customers.

The full text of the letter reads:

Dear Lawrence,

 

We are writing to you today as Labour MPs whose constituents are Southern Water customers regarding the shocking news that you are set to receive £691,200 under a ‘long-term incentive plan’, on top of your regular salary of £687,000.

 

We do not believe this massive payout is justified and would urge you in good conscience to decline it.

 

In our manifesto, Labour promised to ban underserved and excessive bonuses to water bosses who did not deliver for their customers. We strongly welcome that earlier this year the government’s Water (Special Measures) Act came into force and Southern Water was one such company made subject to that ban.

 

Under these new rules, Southern Water has been banned from paying bonuses following a Category 1 (major) sewage spill in New Forest, Hampshire, last year. That spill followed other recent shocking incidents, including the revelation that, according to the Environment Agency, Southern Water was the company with the second most category 1 (major) and category 2 (significant) water pollution incidents in 2024. The report labelled this as a ‘systematic water company failure and underperformance’.

 

Your tenure has also seen water outages for tens of thousands of households, major flooding in Hastings that saw people evacuated and businesses destroyed, and sewage spilled regularly across the South East.

 

The ban also follows eye-watering bill hikes to our constituents of 46.7% to clean up the mess Southern Water has made of our water system. Customers will be shocked that while they are being asked to pay more, you will be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

We are appalled at this enormous ‘incentive payment’, which we believe constitutes a shameful and blatant attempt by Southern Water executives to circumvent the bonus ban and enrich themselves without any justification beyond pure greed.

 

Our constituents will be asking themselves why the CEO of Southern Water would need to be ‘incentivised’ to care about fixing the dire performance of his own company.

 

We urge you to do the right thing and decline this disgraceful payment for failure.