Statement from Ilkley Clean River Group, Save Windermere, SOS Whitstable, Windrush Against Sewage, along with Beneath British Waters, Clean River Kent Campaign, Friends of Hurley Brook, Henley Mermaids, Oxfordshire Clean Rivers Initiative, River Action, Save Our Swale,  Stop Ure Pollution, Surfers Against Sewage, The Thames Blue Green Economy, Up Sewage Creek, and Prof David Hall, Prof Ewan McGaughey, Dr Andrew Singer, Prof Jamie Woodward. 

On Sunday 22nd September, World Rivers Day, at the National Conference on Cleaning Up Our Rivers, Lakes, and Seas hosted by Ilkley Clean River Group, more than 200 campaigners and academics from across the country overwhelmingly called on the government to place failing water companies into Special Administration.

Special Administration is a legal mechanism within the 1991 Water Industry Act, that allows the government to take control of water companies. This can be triggered under two conditions: either the company is in financial distress, as in the case of Thames Water, or it has breached its licence or statutory duties to a degree that makes it inappropriate for the company to continue operating. We believe all major water companies meet the latter condition given the widespread illegality demonstrated by Professor Peter Hammond from Windrush Against Sewage Pollution, triggering the Ofwat and EA investigations of every water company. Special Administration is a mechanism to protect consumer’s interests.

Special Administration provides a firebreak, with the government putting in an interim team to scrutinise and stabilise company finances and performance in temporary administration, remodelling it, and to then find new owners. The government has ruled out public ownership and that limits the Special Administrator’s options for ownership. All options should be on the table, the current government approach ties the Special Administrator’s hands behind their back.

Why is this important?

Special Administration would act as a firebreak to scrutinise and stabilise company finances and performance in temporary administration and reassess the failing privatised water model. It would enable increased investment by stopping the flow of dividends to shareholders as the government can write off the debt, meaning the public would no longer have to service it. We see great potential in enforcing this longstanding law, but we are concerned that if the government applies for Special Administration to a company like Thames Water with the only future option being private ownership (rather than exploring alternatives), it will simply restructure the company to make it more attractive to private investors, rather than seeking out the best option for the consumer and for the environment, leaving both vulnerable to further exploitation.

We cannot allow this to happen. Now is the time to pressure the government to put all ownership models on the table and give the public a say in the future of the industry.

We do not support a public bailout to refinance Thames Water or any other failing company, only for it to be handed back to the private sector for more profits, more debt, and higher bills.

We call on the government to:

  1. Apply to the court to place Thames Water (and any other companies failing to meet their statutory duties) into Special Administration due to financial distress and failure to meet license and performance requirements.
  2. Submit a plan to the court to cancel the company’s debt, ensuring that the debt is not shifted onto the public purse.
  3. Ensure that the Special Administrative process is transparent and time-limited.
  4. Ensure that all ownership models are available to the Special Administrator, without restricting options, until the full state of the company is understood and the public has been consulted. This must signal the end of the current profit-driven model.
  5. Protect consumers by guaranteeing that public money is used to secure clean rivers, lakes, and seas.

Organisations:

Matt Staniek, Save Windermere

Prof Becky Malby, Ilkley Clean River Group

Sal Burtt-Jones, SOS Whitstable

Ashley Smith, Windrush Against Sewage

Mark Barrow, Beneath British Waters,

Isobel Stoddart, Clean River Kent Campaign

Marion Vers, Friends of Hurley Brook

Laura Reineke, Henley Mermaids

Ned Wells, Oxfordshire Clean Rivers Initiative

James Wallace, River Action

Deborah Meara, Save our Swale

Prof Richard Loukota, Stop Ure Pollution

Giles Bristow, Surfers Against Sewage

Diana McCann The Thames Blue Green Economy

Claire Kirkby, Up Sewage Creek

 

Individuals:

Prof Ewan McGaughey, Professor of Law, Kings College London

Dr Andrew Singer, Principal Scientist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Wallingford, United Kingdom

Prof David Hall, Visiting Professor, Public Services International Research Unit, University of Greenwich

Prof Jamie Woodward, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Manchester

 

This statement was covered by the Guardian ‘Calls for Failing Water Companies to be taken over using Special Administration‘.