‘Thames Water should be the first’: Clean water campaigner says all private water firms should be put under public control
A water safety campaign group has called for more companies to be taken out of private control because their ‘priorities are entirely wrong’ and they should put customers ahead of shareholders.
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Louise Reddy of Surfers Against Sewage spoke to LBC after a rescue deal was proposed that would take the UK’s largest water firm a step closer towards a form of nationalisation.
She said: “Thames [Water] should be the first to go. It is an opportunity for the government to show strength and build back better water systems”.
She said there were “failures across all of the water companies in England [which] are managed and operated for profit” while the “privatised model is extractive”.
"What the government really needs to do is [bring in] temporary administration”.
Stuart Gourley, West Berkshire councillor for Environment and Highways, agreed with Ms Reddy: “It’s about time Ministers finally step in, put Thames Water into Special Administration, and make sure the company works for the public benefit, not its shareholders”.
Asked about the prospect of Thames Water’s nationalisation, Ms Reddy said: “it would make sense to”.
“The priorities are entirely wrong… restructuring is needed [as] our infrastructure is inadequate”, she added.
“[There is] a significant need for investment”, she said.
Thames Water has a debt of almost £20bn. The Environment Secretary, Emma Reynolds MP, objected this week to a £10bn bundle from the company’s creditors to avoid liquidation.
“Thames Water customers have been let down for far too long, with 15 years of underperformance, increasing serious pollution, and customers left to pick up the bill”, she said.
She gave a statement to Parliament yesterday about the Thames Water bundle, saying: “I do not believe … that the current proposal goes far enough to protect customers and the environment”.
“I have three particular concerns about the proposal: the unfair cost to customers, delays to vital infrastructure investments and delays to environmental improvements", she said.
She added: “We will also improve water quality by cutting pollution at its source”.
“Our reforms will deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment”, she concluded.
However, Shadow Environment Secretary, Victoria Atkins MP, said: “there is nothing new in this statement”.
She said: “the priority now must be a financial arrangement that keeps the company afloat and protects billpayers and taxpayers”.
But she warned the Secretary of State: “whilst her government is in chaos, paralysed by the Prime Minister’s weakness and the mayor of Manchester’s leadership ambitions, Thames Water continues to fail.
Andy Burnham is expected to launch a leadership bid for Number 10 if he wins the Makerfield by-election on Thursday.
The Shadow Secretary of State added: “If no deal is reached, Thames Water could collapse, again at enormous cost to taxpayers”.
Thames Water – Britain’s biggest water supplier with 16 million customers – has also faced a series of hefty fines for its poor environmental performance in recent years.
The company said it has enough funding until September.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “It is positive that the Secretary of State has provided feedback to Ofwat in relation to the London & Valley Water plan.
“We will continue working with all parties to reach an agreement that supports long-term financial stability and delivers better outcomes for customers and the environment.”
A rescue bid by creditors is seen as the final realistic option on the table to avoid being placed into the Government’s so-called special administration regime after a previous rescue deal with US private equity giant KKR collapsed in May last year.
Administrators have already been lined up to step in if needed.
But the Government has repeatedly said it prefers a “market solution” over temporary nationalisation.