I know how sick and tired people are with water companies’ excuses for rising bills and the appalling sewage dumping scandal. The fact that Southern Water customers have received the highest increase in bills of anywhere in the country is a kick in the teeth to the residents of East Thanet, who have had to put up with years of poor service, underinvestment, and a sewage crisis that is polluting our precious seas.
I regularly raise this issue in parliament, and recently spearheaded a letter from Labour MPs calling for the CEO of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, to decline the outrageous ‘incentive’ payment he is due to receive of £600,000, on top of his £687,000 salary.
I was pleased that when I raised this issue with the Environment Secretary that he confirmed that this so-called ‘incentive’ scheme was introduced prior to Labour’s Water (Special Measures) Act banned such payments earlier this year, meaning this cannot happen again in the future. Under this new law, Southern Water is one of five poorly-performing water companies banned from handing out executive bonuses until they start delivering for customers and the environment again.
At the general election I was proud to back Labour’s pledge to tackle the sewage scandal, so I am pleased that the government is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to fixing our broken water system. Within days of taking office, then Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, met with water company Chief Executives to make clear that under this government water companies will be answerable for their performance for customers and the environment.
Since then, he has announced that:
- The government will cut sewage pollution in half by 2030 and halve phosphorus pollution from treated wastewater by 2028.The Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan (SODRP) has set stringent targets on reducing spills, including a 75% reduction in discharging into High Priority Sites, such as chalk streams, by 2035.
- In total, a record investment of £104 billion will be made in transforming our water infrastructure.
- The failing water regulator, Ofwat, will be abolished, with a much stronger and more effective regulator created who can hold the water companies to account for their failings and push for change.
- Funding for vital infrastructure investment will be ringfenced, so it can only be spent on upgrades benefiting customers and the environment. Where such funds are not spent, companies will be forced to refund customers, with money never allowed to be diverted for bonuses, dividends, or salary increases.
- Consumers will gain new powers to hold water company bosses to account through powerful new customer panels. For the first time, customers will have the power to summon board members and hold water executives to account.
- Protection and compensation for households and businesses when their basic water services are affected will be strengthened.
Under the last government, water companies were allowed to get off scot-free while they continued to dump sewage in our rivers and seas, push up bills, rack up huge debts, and pay out vast dividends to shareholders. With Labour now in government, we have kicked off the process of change, demanded accountability, and are pushing forward with a plan of action to protect our waterways and get a better deal for consumers.
So please know that as your MP I will continue to push hard to ensure that it is water companies, and not billpayers, who face the brunt of fixing our broken water system.