“It’s time to rethink how our water is run: stricter regulations, real public ownership, better protections for customers, because we should get clean water, not corporate bonuses and enormous pay rises for abject failure,” these are the words of Cumberland Council’s member for Bransty, Joseph Ghayouba as he expressed frustration at the actions of UK water companies.
He told followers in a video posted to social media that “water companies, including United Utilities, are set to announce another round of price rises.
“Last year, they confirmed increases every year for the next five years, a 32 per cent rise by 2030, taking the average bill to 585 pounds per year.
“And that’s on top of all the other costs that families are facing.”
But the water giant, operating across the North West has said an increase in bills will facilitate “the largest investment in water and wastewater in over 100 years.”
United has told customers it will reinvest £13 billion into its infrastructure between 2025 and 2030.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We are already on with delivering our £13 billion investment programme – the largest ever environmental improvement plan the North West has ever seen. This will transform over 500km of waterways across the region by 2030, reduce the use of storm overflows by 60 per cent, improve water quality and reduce leakage to its lowest-ever level.
“We understand customer’s concerns over bills, that’s why we are providing over £500 million of financial support to help one in six households who may struggle with their payments. We encourage customers to get in touch if they’re having payment worries or require additional support.”
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A £200 million investment plan is set to reduce the pollution of Windermere due to storm overflows and six wastewater treatment plants near Penrith are being upgraded.
Councillor Ghayouba said: “The Government said they would clamp down, including a ban on unfair bonuses for bosses at six major water firms, who failed on pollution, customer service or financial standards. But the reality is different.”
He cited the award of a £170,000 performance bonus to a water company exec in the south of the country and “some CEOs taking home over a million pounds a year.”
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs published plans this week to tighten regulation on water companies, making pollution-cutting plans mandatory and banning
Water Minister Emma Hardy said: “It is completely unacceptable that so much sewage is still entering out waterways, and it cannot continue.
“This government is delivering a new era of accountability in the water sector. We’ve banned unfair bonuses for water bosses, introduced tough penalties for pollution and these mandatory plans are the latest step to hold water companies to account and tackle the root causes of pollution.”
Failing to publish adequate Pollution Incident Reduction Plans will be a criminal offence both for water companies and chief executives.