Lib Dem MP calls for Thames Water to be put into Special Administration ahead of Parliament debate

15 Mar 2024

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Calls for government to “keep the taps running” and “not allow the corporate arsonist to put out their own fire”
New Special Administration laws ensure Thames Water debt does not fall on the Government.
Liberal Democrats call for Public Benefit model where profit is no longer put above environmental goals
Reports of Thames Water lobbying for a bailout on their terms, including higher bills and reduced fines

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and London MP Sarah Olney has called for Thames Water to be put into Special Administration.

Last month, the government passed new legislation which allows the High Court to appoint a special administrator to take over a failing water firm. With Thames Water unable to pay its debts, and now recusing itself from new sewage investments, the Liberal DemocratMP believes that threshold has now been met.

Sarah Olney MP has secured an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Friday 15th March, after the government refused her repeated attempts for the publication of contingency plans in the wake of a Thames Water collapse.

Thames Water has been plunged into chaos with the sacking of a CEO, debts rising to a reported £18bn, and now in talks with the government over its possible collapse.

It is the biggest water firm in the country, supplying over 15 million people, and its collapse has been codenamed “Project Timber” within the government due to the catastrophic impact it could have. A Special Administration would ensure those damaging effects would not happen.

Under new government rules, the taxpayer would not be liable for the firm's debts, which stay with the holding company. The Special Administrator could ensure:

The taps keep running for millions of households across the capital and South of England
The company would become stable again and no longer be reliant on its failing board, working in the public interest.
The company would re-start efforts to stop harmful sewage discharges into rivers and lakes
Executive bonuses would no longer be paid, after the firm paid out £8 million to senior officials in recent years

The Liberal Democrats’ proposal for Thames Water would lead to the firm being reformed as a Public Benefit Company, which includes an environmentalist on the company board. The company would work in the public interest as well as for shareholders.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and London MP Sarah Olney said:

“Ministers must ensure the taps keep running for millions of people across London and the South.

“So far, this government has watched from the sidelines as asset-strippers run Thames Water into the ground. Thames Water bosses have been profiteering off sewage dumping for years, and this must be the end of the line for them.

“We must not allow these corporate arsonists to put out their own fire. Thames Water is no longer a functioning company, and the government has a choice: either bail them out with taxpayer money or put the company under new ownership to steady the ship.

“Thames Water execs have pocketed disgusting bonuses, paid out billions to overseas investors, and allowed pipes to rust.

“The outcome is a profiteering firm which has been allowed to destroy the environment with filthy sewage.

“The final straw was this week when Thames Water bosses refused to stump up the cash for new sewage investments. It was shocking that Conservative Ministers just let them get away with it.”

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

First reported in the Guardian here

Thames Water absent from industry’s £180m anti-pollution drive - Guardian

Lib Dems unveil plan to turn water firms into 'public benefit companies' - BBC News