Environment Secretary says free football tickets were not from water company
Steve Reed said free football tickets worth nearly £1,800 that he declared were from a telecoms company, not a water firm. Source link
All posts tagged: Ofwat
Tory duty on Ofwat protects profits over reducing sewage pollution, experts say | Pollution
The Conservatives have pushed through a duty on the water regulator to prioritise growth, which experts have said will incentivise water companies to value their bottom lines over reducing sewage pollution. Campaigners fear this move will weaken Ofwat’s ability to crack down on water companies as it may force the regulator to consider a company’s financial situation and the impact on its growth if the firm is heavily fined for polluting. The Liberal Democrats forced a vote in parliament on Wednesday on the government’s new “growth duty” for Ofwat, which requires the regulator to “have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth” when cracking down on water companies. They lost, as 50 MPs voted against the statutory instrument and 395 voted in favour. The growth duty specifically mentions fines of companies as a measure that could hamper their growth. It says: “Certain enforcement actions, and other activities of the regulator, can be particularly damaging to growth. “These include, for example, enforcement actions that limit or prevent a business from operating; financial sanctions; and publicity, …
Thames Water on road to state rescue amid investor standoff with Ofwat | Thames Water
Thames Water appears to be on the road to nationalisation after its investors signalled they were unwilling to pump more money into the debt-laden utilities company, amid a standoff with the regulator and the government over raising customers’ bills. Britain’s biggest water supplier said on Thursday its shareholders had refused to provide £500m of emergency funding due this week to secure the company’s short-term cashflow. Thames, which has £18bn of debts, could be plunged into a government-handled administration that would see the company temporarily renationalised if it cannot secure fresh funding from new or existing sources. It has been lobbying the industry regulator Ofwat to increase bills by 40%, pay lower fines for breaches including sewage dumping and to be allowed to pay out dividends. The watchdog has been examining the supplier’s business plan for 2025-2030, and Thames said Ofwat’s initial assessments made the company “uninvestible” for shareholders. However, in words understood to reflect the view in Downing Street, the communities secretary, Michael Gove, described the leadership of Thames as a “disgrace” and said they …
Whistleblowing portal launched for water industry workers
Those working in areas like water, waste or nuclear are encouraged to alert the Environment Agency to concerns of serious environmental wrongdoing. Source link
Hundreds of thousands of Thames Water customers may be unable to pay bills from April
Outra’s chief data and technology officer Peter Jackson, who was previously chief data officer at Southern Water and The Pensions Regulator, said: ‘As we enter the new financial year in April and bill increases begin to bite for households that may already be struggling, companies need to be aware there are an increasing number of requirements from regulators including Ofwat and the FCA that mean they have greater responsibility towards vulnerable households.” Source link
Polluting water company chiefs’ bonuses to be blocked
This could include successful prosecution for the two most serious categories of pollution, such as causing significant pollution at a bathing site or conservation area, or where a company has been found guilty of serious management failings, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Source link
If Thames Water has to be nationalised, so be it. Ofwat should not be bullied | Nils Pratley
For their next session with Thames Water, the MPs on the environment select committee should summon the people who really matter: the shareholders who must find £3bn-plus in coming years if they wish to keep their over-indebted, under-performing and waterlogged company afloat. The committee might need a bigger room because the ownership collective is not small. It takes in two Canadian pension funds (with holdings of 32% and 9%), the pension fund for UK university academics (20%), the governments of Abu Dhabi (10%) and China (9%), the manager of BT’s pension fund (9%) and an Australian fund (5%). The first question to such a gathering would be simple. Are you trying to hold the regulator, Ofwat, to ransom before you commit more cash? That is the way it looks from outside. The hired hands, the stand-in co-chief executives, Cathryn Ross and Alastair Cochran, and non-executive chairman Sir Adrian Montague repeatedly told the committee that the owners are waiting for “clarity” from the regulator over the price controls that will operate from 2025-30. The desire to …
Ofwat boss says ‘hard lessons’ to learn from water crisis as he defends watchdog’s role – business live | Business
Key events AO World boss: Inflationary pressures have reduced ‘dramatically’ The boss of the electrical retailer AO World said inflationary pressures have reduced “dramatically,” as the company swung back into the black. The retailer, which is based in Bolton and sells household appliances like fridges, also announced a “significant reduction in headcount” but declined to give further details. AO World reported a pre-tax profit of £8m in the year to 31 March, against a loss of £11m the previous year. Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has become its biggest shareholder. John Roberts, the founder and chief executive, said: The macro economic situation and the inflationary pressures that households are dealing with are clearly going to have an issue. The core category that we sell, we do major domestic appliances is much more resilient. When your fridge breaks, then you’re likely to buy a new one and we still have full employment [in the economy]. Because of the energy crisis, what we are seeing is customers are moving much more to energy efficient products where they tend …