Scottish Water boss must earn six figure salary by driving down sewage discharges

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today warned that the new boss of the country’s Scottish Government-owned water company must earn his vast pay packet by driving down sewage discharges which are flowing into Scotland’s rivers and waterways and that no bonuses should be paid out unless sewage monitoring increases and sewage discharges decrease.

Reports in The Herald last week claimed that Scottish Water's new chief executive Alex Plant has been given an annual salary of £295,000 which is £22,500 more than his predecessor was paid. This pay packed was approved despite the Scottish Government's public sector pay policy setting an "expectation" that there is a 10% reduction in the pay packages of all new chief executive appointments.

In 2022, then Chief Executive Douglas Millican was handed a £92,000 bonus on top of his salary despite Scottish Water figures showing there was a 30% increase in the number of sewage overflow events. In total 14,008 discharges were logged, up from 10,799 incidents in 2021.  

Even these vast figures are likely to be significant underestimates because only around 4% of the 3,614 sewage overflows in Scotland’s 31,000-mile sewer network are currently monitored. This contrasts with England, which has 14,470 overflows of which 91% are monitored.

In February it was announced that household water bills were to rise by 5%.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"This is a vast pay packet even before you consider the near six figure bonuses that Scottish Water chief executives have pocketed in the past.

"While there is a need to attract top talent, I find it hard to believe that the only way to find a suitable candidate was to offer almost 10% more than the previous holder of the role received, especially when the Scottish Government is supposed to be trimming back these expensive deals.

"Alex Plant is going to have to work hard for his money. Sewage was discharged into Scotland's waterways more than 14,000 times last year. It will be his job to ensure that excrement, wet wipes and sanitary towels are not being pumped into the heart of our communities.

“There should be no bonuses for Scottish Water execs until sewage discharges are decreasing. The Scottish-government owned water company must also record and publish all sewage discharges so that we finally have an accurate picture.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see accelerated measures to upgrade our Victorian sewage system and prevent sewage from flowing into our rivers and beaches."