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Thames Water
16 June 2026
Lead MP
Emma Reynolds
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
EnergyEnvironment
Other Contributors: 42
At a Glance
Emma Reynolds raised concerns about thames water in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds MP, made a statement about the proposed recapitalisation package for Thames Water. She highlighted that Thames Water has underperformed over the past fifteen years with unacceptable levels of pollution incidents and high debt, impacting consumers and the environment negatively. The company is currently undergoing a recapitalisation process to secure long-term funding with support from Ofwat, an independent regulator.
The minister expressed concerns about the current proposal put forward by the London and Valley Water consortium, which includes unfair costs for customers, delays in critical infrastructure investment, and environmental improvements. She stressed that her primary concern is protecting consumers and maintaining high standards for water quality. The Government has already taken significant steps to improve the sector, including introducing new legislation to penalise pollution cover-ups, banning excessive bonuses for polluters, unlocking £104 billion of private investment, and establishing a comprehensive independent review.
The statement concluded by emphasising that upcoming reforms will ensure financial resilience, stronger regulatory oversight, and improved consumer advocacy. The aim is to deliver better outcomes for customers and the environment through these measures.
Victoria Atkins
Con
Louth and Horncastle
Question
The Conservative MP Victoria Atkins questioned the minister about nationalisation and its potential costs. She also inquired about safeguards to ensure Thames Water remains responsible for environmental and operational failures during sector restructuring.
Minister reply
Emma Reynolds responded by acknowledging the concerns raised regarding nationalisation's high costs but emphasised that her focus is on ensuring strong regulatory oversight and accountability in the current privatised system, protecting both billpayers and environmental standards.
David Simpson
DUP
Upper Bann
Question
The Member of Parliament for Upper Bann asked about the potential impact on Northern Ireland's water supply if Thames Water were to collapse.
Minister reply
Emma Reynolds responded by confirming that the Government is closely monitoring all aspects of Thames Water’s situation, including its impact on water supplies in other regions. She emphasised that maintaining stability and ensuring proper service delivery are top priorities.
Mary Creagh
Lab
Wakefield
Question
The Labour MP for Wakefield questioned the timeline for implementing new regulations to prevent similar situations from arising in the future.
Minister reply
Emma Reynolds assured that the Government is committed to swift implementation of reforms laid out in the upcoming clean water Bill, which aims at preventing such scenarios through strengthened regulatory measures and financial oversight.
Barry Gardiner
Lab
Brent North
Question
The Labour MP for Brent North sought clarification on whether customers would still face increased bills under the proposed recapitalisation.
Minister reply
Emma Reynolds clarified that while the Government aims to minimise customer costs, any final decision will depend on Ofwat's evaluation of the proposal and public consultation outcomes.
Victoria Atkins
Con
Louth and Horncastle
Question
Echoed the Secretary of State’s comments about Jo Cox, thanked for advance sight of statement. Criticised Thames Water's pollution record, lack of progress on issues like EU handover negotiations, and the risk of billpayers bearing costs for company failures without certainty for customers.
Minister reply
Defended against shadow criticisms by highlighting government achievements since taking power, including the introduction of the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025. Emphasised that a special administration regime is not equivalent to nationalisation.
Toby Perkins
Lab
Chesterfield
Question
Asked about the Secretary of State's assessment of whether Thames Water remains a viable business, given delays in environmental improvements and unfair costs for billpayers.
Minister reply
Replied that this is a stage where she has provided early views on the proposal, leaving it to Ofwat to decide next steps.
Tim Farron
Lib Dem
Westmorland and Lonsdale
Question
Commended remarks about Jo Cox. Criticised privatisation since 1980s for allowing £85 billion of billpayers' money to flow into shareholders' pockets, leading to extensive sewage pollution and infrastructure leaks. Urged immediate special administration with a mutually owned model by customers.
Minister reply
Acknowledged serious pollution incidents in the Thames region but clarified that there are two types of special administration regimes. The government stands ready for all eventualities including an insolvency or performance SAR.
Barry Gardiner
Lab
Brent North
Question
Will the Secretary of State confirm that in a special administration regime, compensation would be based on appropriate value as set out in Lithgow v. UK rather than regulated capital value? For Thames Water, this would mean nil due to infrastructure repairs and dividend payments.
Minister reply
There is a difference between a special administration regime and nationalisation. In the event of a SAR, the state seeks recoupment of investment made but in nationalisation, different considerations apply.
Question
What assurances can be given that £88 million of ongoing water supply infrastructure investment for Bexley will not be derailed by the Government's announcement?
Minister reply
Both regulator and government hold Thames Water to account, ensuring continuity of service despite uncertainty.
Question
Should Thames Water be placed into special measures given its poor performance in sewage spills, pollution incidents, flooding, customer complaints, and regulatory penalties?
Minister reply
Thames Water's record is indeed terrible with unacceptable sewage spills. The Government stands ready for all eventualities including SAR.
Bob Blackman
Con
Harrow East
Question
How can the situation be resolved quickly to avoid further uncertainty and potential bill increases for Thames Water customers?
Minister reply
The Government wants to prevent customers from picking up the bill for repeated failures but seeks resolution.
Emily Thornberry
Lab
Islington South and Finsbury
Question
How much more neglect must Islington endure before Thames Water is finally taken over given its poor record of floods, shareholder payments, and rate increases?
Minister reply
Emphasises the company's appalling record affecting constituents and businesses; remains open to SAR.
Question
What are the outputs from FTI Consulting's work on potential special administration for Thames Water, and how much has it cost?
Minister reply
FTI was appointed to prepare for a SAR but specific figures are not available.
Question
How can improvements at sewage treatment works be assured despite institutional uncertainty about the future of Thames Water?
Minister reply
Wants to turn the page on failures and ensure necessary improvements without delays due to uncertainty.
Julian Lewis
Con
New Forest East
Question
If Thames Water becomes insolvent, would there be no compensation for shareholders in a state takeover?
Minister reply
In case of insolvency and special administration regime by directors, questions about compensation would arise.
Catherine West
Lab
Hornsey and Wood Green
Question
What reassurances can be provided for basic customer services like fixing the closed Turnpike Lane tube station due to leaks?
Minister reply
Will raise concerns with the regulator, wanting the issue fixed as soon as possible.
Layla Moran
Lib Dem
Oxford West and Abingdon
Question
Why is Thames Water not letting constituents suffer basic service cuts due to water pressure reductions?
Minister reply
Understands the frustration, has written to Ofwat expressing concerns over poor performance.
Question
Does any deal for Thames Water need to prioritise consumer and environmental protections over investor benefits?
Minister reply
Customers are at the forefront; Environment Agency continues investigating pollution incidents and imposing fines as necessary.
Question
What action will ensure water companies like Thames Water can have a proper voice in planning to avoid overburdened systems?
Minister reply
When the Clean Water Bill is introduced, there will be provisions for intense regional planning involving stakeholders.
Helen Hayes
Lab
Dulwich and West Norwood
Question
My constituents have been catastrophically failed by Thames Water over many years by major floods that have closed local businesses, constant leaks and bursts, traffic disruption, loss of supply and terrible support for vulnerable customers. This is the consequence of shocking negligence by asset-stripping investors, and there is no evidence that Thames Water can recover itself or that it will ever have a credible plan to deliver. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and ask her for further detail on the timescale for resolving the situation. When does she expect Ofwat to reach a decision on the offer from investors? How will she ensure that, following such a decision, action is taken swiftly to bring this scandal to an end and to bring Thames Water back into special administration, so that it can be run for the public good and for the good of the environment?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is right to raise the impact of this issue on local businesses as well as residents in her constituency. I spoke to the chair of Ofwat yesterday evening, as well as sending the letter, and I know that he and the board of Ofwat are considering the proposal in great detail. I suspect that we will hear from them soon.
Question
Enough is enough. Frankly, the sight of US hedge funds picking over the carcase of Thames Water’s pipe network is revolting—it stinks. The plan includes three quarters of a billion pounds of payments to hedge funds, shareholders, debt holders and bankers. It is completely unacceptable. Thames Water is bust: it is insolvent. Now is the time to put it into special administration. It cannot meet its financial obligations, and it cannot meet its performance obligations. I urge the Secretary of State to get on with it, put Thames Water into a special administration regime, and then buy it out for a pound. That would be a good deal for the taxpayer.
Minister reply
May I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the party? It was a long time coming. I do not remember any mention of the sewage crisis in the Reform manifesto at the last election.
Question
I think some Opposition Members are suffering from amnesia and have forgotten the asset stripping that happened, which has led to infrastructure failing across Bexleyheath and Crayford, and to the 30% increase in bills last year. We have tried every option to keep Thames Water organisationally solvent, but my patience, and that of my constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford, is running out. Will the Secretary of State outline how ready we are as a Government if we need to take the company into special administration? In Bexleyheath and Crayford, our patience is running out.
Minister reply
We have seen really poor performance over a number of years, and I absolutely appreciate my hon. Friend’s impatience on behalf of his constituents—he is right to express that. One of the problems that we have had with the regulatory regime is that the current economic regulator did not step in and stop Thames Water going into unmanageable levels of debt.
Question
Communities such as Chalfont St Peter have suffered appalling circumstances in recent years, including flooding and sewage bubbling up through the drains. Thames Water has promised capital investment to address these issues. What assurances can the Secretary of State give that customers will not be asked to pay the price for years of financial mismanagement through higher bills, and that any future restructure or special administration regime will not mean that existing capital investment commitments are lost?
Minister reply
I thank my constituency neighbour for her question. She is right to talk about the problems in her constituency, which I know very well. I sent my letter yesterday evening precisely because of the issue that she mentions. I do not want to see severe delays to the capital investment that is necessary to improve the situation, as she has suggested, and I do not want customers to pick up the tab for it.
Question
I echo the tributes to Jo Cox, whom I worked with when she was at Oxfam. We miss her greatly.
My constituents in Putney, Roehampton, Southfields and Wandsworth Town have been let down by Thames Water for years. The Tories lost a grip of the situation and cut back the Environment Agency. In 2025, Thames Water dumped sewage in the Thames for over 107,000 hours, but bills are rising and I get constant emails from constituents because there is nothing to show for it. They are paying the price, so I welcome the Secretary of State’s standing up for customers and the environment. What would she say to my constituents to assure them that they will not have to pay any more for this investment fund masquerading as a public service?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend puts her finger on the issue. As I said in my statement, there are three principal reasons why I sent Ofwat my early concerns about the proposal, and one of those reasons is the delay of the investment that we need to ensure that there are improvements to environmental performance, which I know is an issue of concern across the House. I do not want customers to pick up the tab for that delay.
Jeremy Corbyn
Lab
Islington North
Question
Is it not clear that 30 years of the regulatory system has absolutely failed in the face of the greed, incompetence and profit taking of Thames Water? Surely to goodness it is time that Thames Water stopped being allowed to continue with this disastrous policy. The company was brought into public ownership, but it is public ownership with a difference, because it includes local authorities, local communities and the workforce—rather than the directors—who know something about water delivery. We need an efficient supply, an end to the flooding that happens in my constituency and others, and an end to the abominable polluting of the Thames and the seas around this country, which is caused by the greed of the directors of Thames Water.
Minister reply
I do not always agree with the right hon. Gentleman, but I do so on this issue. There has been real regulatory failure here—there has been a failure of the regulators, and a failure of the regulation itself. The Conservatives decided to cut the enforcement budget of the Environment Agency, and there has been a shift towards self-monitoring, which essentially means that the water companies have been marking their own homework.
Question
We all have examples of Thames Water letting our residents down. Just last week I heard from one of my farmers, who has had Thames Water discharging raw sewage into the ditch next to his fields. It has flooded his fields and contaminated the land, which is no longer in use. I welcome the progress made by the Secretary of State, but as she acknowledges, more may well be needed. Will she reassure my constituents that she will always put the interests of consumers, the environment and public health ahead of the interests of investors?
Minister reply
Absolutely, and I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. As I said in my statement, customers are front and centre in my consideration of this issue. It is completely unacceptable that farmers are suffering the consequences of the raw sewage crisis in our country, and they should not have their land contaminated.
Question
Will the Secretary of State guarantee that no taxpayer money will be used to bail out Thames Water or its shareholders?
Minister reply
Well, we have to see. I have sent a letter to express my early concerns about the situation, and the Government remain open to all eventualities. If there was a special administration regime, which some people are calling for, then the Government would obviously be financing a special administrator to run the company.
Matt Rodda
Lab
Reading East
Question
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and for robust way in which she is standing up for residents and the environment on this very important issue. My constituents are appalled by the sewage pollution in the River Thames and by the poor quality of customer service offered by Thames Water. We have had numerous breaks in supply and there was an issue with subsidence that closed a road in Reading. Can she tell me more about the process that will be followed by Ofwat and the action she will take through the clean water Bill?
Minister reply
The clean water Bill will introduce a supervisory regime whereby the new regulator, which will have more teeth, will have a team of people for each and every water company, really getting a grip on the performance of each water company and holding it to account. What we have seen up until now, as I said to the right hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), is the shift we saw 15 years ago towards a system where companies were basically marking their own homework.
Question
Thames Water is in crisis, so I thank the Secretary of State for not approving the deal. It is sinking under £20 billion of debt. It is like a leaky ship that cannot stay afloat. Last year, my constituents were, on average, paying an additional £203 a year. They simply cannot continue to pay the price for this failure. When will she stop pouring money into this leaky ship, put Thames Water into special administration and put everyone out of their misery?
Minister reply
I thank the hon. Lady for welcoming the fact that I have sent the letter with my early concerns. As I said, there are two different ways for a special administration regime. One is insolvency, which is a matter for the directors of the company and would have to go through the courts.
Helena Dollimore
Lab
Question
Thames Water is failing its customers and the environment, spending £67.6 million on legal fees to avoid a special administration regime. Does the Secretary of State agree that Thames Water must prioritise investment in infrastructure rather than bonuses or legal payouts?
Minister reply
Yes, we want Thames Water’s priority to be investing in water infrastructure needed for customer service improvement and environmental enhancement.
Ellie Chowns
Lab
Question
With nearly a quarter of the UK population relying on Thames Water as a natural monopoly, are customers facing increased bills, pollution, and crumbling infrastructure. Is it time to admit privatisation has failed and return Thames Water to public ownership?
Minister reply
While nationalisation is not seen as a silver bullet, the Government stands ready for all eventualities due to fiscal pressures in other areas.
Peter Swallow
Lab
Question
Thames Water is responsible for one-third of major pollution incidents and its creditors are increasing bills while delaying infrastructure improvements. Will the Government place Thames Water under special measures?
Minister reply
The Minister's concern about delays to infrastructure improvements prompted a letter to Ofwat, reassuring that no fines will be waived by the Environment Agency.
Monica Harding
Con
Question
With an average water bill of £658 and sewage incidents in local rivers, will the Government put Thames Water under special administration to create a public interest company that serves constituents properly?
Minister reply
The Minister expresses sorrow about the sewage incident outside a local primary school and acknowledges the need for a solution that delivers environmental protection.
Josh Dean
Con
Question
Thames Water discharges sewage into chalk streams, and its improvement plan is not due until 2028. Does the Secretary of State agree this is a failure? What assurances will she give to protect our precious chalk streams?
Minister reply
The Minister agrees that there have been 15 years of failures and prioritises protection for chalk streams.
Olly Glover
Con
Question
What assessment has the Secretary of State made regarding the risk that a collapse could lead to Government bearing costs of Thames Water’s proposed £5.7 billion White Horse reservoir?
Minister reply
The Minister confirms ongoing projects will continue, but details will be reviewed.
Question
Residents are dissatisfied with Thames Water’s failures and the Government’s decision to support Thames Water’s proposed reservoir. What assurances can she give regarding high standards?
Minister reply
The Minister reassures constituents of water supply continuity.
Clive Jones
Lib Dem
Question
Residents in Wokingham endure years of sewage dumping and rising bills, while stakeholders profit. Will the Secretary of State consider a call for water companies to be mutually-owned public benefit corporations?
Minister reply
The Minister is open to mutual ownership but discusses how this can be achieved.
Chris Hinchliff
Con
Question
Thames Water oversees thousands of hours of sewage spills in North East Hertfordshire's chalk streams. Is the Secretary of State prepared for a special administration regime?
Minister reply
The Minister acknowledges the need to protect billpayers and mentions readiness for all eventualities.
Victoria Collins
Con
Question
Residents in North Leigh and Eynsham went without water due to a collapsed pipe, angered by debt payments instead of infrastructure maintenance. What guarantees will ensure strengthened environmental obligations?
Minister reply
The Minister states that the Environment Agency will continue investigating pollution incidents.
Calum Miller
Lib Dem
Question
Residents are angered by debt payments and lack of infrastructure maintenance. Does the Secretary of State agree Thames Water’s financial model is broken?
Minister reply
The Minister confirms through the clean water Bill, the Government seeks to prevent companies from getting into unmanageable levels of debt.
Question
It is clear that the creditors’ consortium has material influence over Thames Water, as it is funding the company and bilaterally negotiating with the Government. Material influence means that the consortium meets the defined criteria of being an ultimate controller. Will the Secretary of State finally acknowledge that fact and work with Ofwat to enforce it?
Minister reply
We are working closely with Ofwat, which has been talking to the consortium of investors for two years. Through my officials, the Government have been in discussions with the consortium alongside Ofwat since November. I thank all the officials who have been involved in those discussions. We need to find a way forward that puts customers and the environment at its heart.
Shadow Comment
Victoria Atkins
Shadow Comment
The shadow Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Victoria Atkins MP, responded by expressing her condolences regarding Jo Cox's passing. She criticised the lack of new information in the statement despite repeated requests for updates from the Government on Thames Water’s issues. The Conservatives pointed out that Thames Water continues to fail its customers and the environment with a high rate of pollution incidents and leakage while bills rise steeply.
Atkins highlighted Labour’s past voting against measures designed to protect consumers from bearing costs in special administration scenarios and questioned whether the current Secretary of State has avoided previous failures. She also addressed concerns about nationalisation, potential costs, and regulatory oversight during sector restructuring, urging for assurances regarding penalty enforcement and protection of billpayers.
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