Sadiq Khan tells Thames Water to stop ‘moaning’ and ‘get a grip’

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Lord Sadiq Khan said Thames Water’s bosses and the regulator Ofwat needed to “get a grip” after years of “shoddy service”.

His comments follow an interview in which Thames Water chief executive Chris Weston told the BBC he wanted to “do better” but added, “the targets that the company is expected to make are not realistic”.

He said: “We have to hit a certain level of leakage, but it is so far in excess of what we are capable of doing, I think anyone would be capable of doing, however much money you invested, that it is not going to be achievable.”

Asked about Mr Weston’s claim, Lord Khan told PA: “My experience of the last 10 years is Thames Water provided a shoddy service, a very expensive service, and a very poor service.

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“We’ve had record leaks across our city year after year, we’ve had hosepipe bans again, we also have a situation where there’s record discharges from our sewers into our rivers and waterways. It’s unacceptable.

“So what’s important is for the regulator to get a grip, for those that run Thames Water to get a grip.”

He added: “What’s important is Thames Water, rather than complaining, rather than moaning, sorts themselves out.”

Thames Water has faced heavy criticism in recent years over its handling of leaks and sewage discharges at the same time as awarding significant pay rises to executives and large dividends to shareholders.

With much of the country experiencing drought conditions, Thames Water introduced a hosepipe ban for millions of customers last week, but was accused by unions of doing so while failing to fix leaks.

Last year, the company was fined £122.7 million for “routinely” discharging sewage into rivers and awarding “undeserved” dividends that did “not properly reflect the company’s delivery performance”.

Thames Water continues to struggle under a £20 billion debt pile as its creditors negotiate with the Government in an effort to stave off nationalisation.

Reports suggest Andy Burnham could temporarily nationalise the company, and the Prime Minister has already spoken of his desire to see greater “public control” of essential utilities.

Last week, a consortium of Thames Water creditors revealed they were considering offering a “golden share” to the Government as part of a revised rescue deal.

Lord Khan said: “I’m really pleased that Andy Burnham is looking into all the options at his disposal to make sure Thames Water raises their game.

“What shouldn’t happen is the taxpayer bails out these shareholders who in previous years have received record dividends.”