Thames Water: we need to see an outright ban on exec bonuses whilst sewage scandal drags on

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Responding to reporting that the regulator Ofwat is expected to say on Thursday a £195,000 bonus awarded to the boss of Thames Water should not be paid for by customers, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

“The fact that Thames Water is paying out any bonuses in the first place is an utter disgrace. 

“It is a welcome shock that Ofwat is actually acting to protect bill paying customers for once after proving completely toothless in cracking down on these polluting firms for years.

“Even when the regulator does act against this broken industry it does so in the meekest possible terms. A Chief Exec receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds in bonuses whilst the firm they run is on the brink of collapse is beggars belief.

“We need to see an outright ban on water company bosses bonuses whilst this scandal drags on and Ofwat replaced by a new regulator with real teeth to crack down on this industry once and for all.”


ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Reporting can be found here.

This evening a Minister in the House of Lords confirmed that the government would enact a Liberal Democrat proposal for Ofwat to consider water company pollution when deciding to ban bonuses.