Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Water Company Executives: Accountability

Thursday 4 September 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Uma Kumaran thanked the Secretary of State for efforts to crack down on financial rewards for poor environmental performance by water company executives.
  • The Secretary of State announced a record 104 billion investment to upgrade pipes and build sewage treatment works across the country.
  • Sally Jameson questioned the accountability of water company executives regarding financial rewards despite higher bills and poor performance for constituents.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Uma Kumaran Lab Stratford and Bow
Energy Environment
Context

Waste water from toilets, sinks, and drains flooded the River Lea for more than 30 hours, affecting local communities in east London. Thames Water continues to dump sewage and waste water into rivers despite issuing high bonuses to its executives.

Question

What steps he is taking to help prevent financial rewards for water company executives responsible for poor environmental performance? May I thank the Secretary of State for the work that this Government are doing to crack down on that appalling practice, and ask what he is doing to ensure that the British public are not paying for that failure after receiving rising water bills? What is he doing to secure the serious investment that is needed for the health of our rivers?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)

My hon. Friend is a great champion for her constituents in east London, on this matter as on many others. With her support, this Government have secured a record £104 billion to upgrade crumbling pipes and build sewage treatment works across the country, so that we can cut sewage pollution. We have also ringfenced customers’ money, so that it can never again be diverted away from investment to pay for bonuses and dividends while sewage pollution got worse. That, of course, includes in the Lea valley.

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Q2 Sally Jameson Labour (Co-op) Doncaster Central
Energy Environment
Context

The CEO of Yorkshire Water received an extra payment from a parent company despite recent admissions that it would not be appropriate to receive a bonus due to the company’s poor performance. This is causing concern among constituents who are facing higher bills.

Question

What steps he is taking to increase the accountability of water company executives? Does the Secretary of State agree that it is wrong that those water bosses receive financial reward, when my constituents are facing higher bills and a shocking performance?

Answer from The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Steve Reed)

As my hon. Friend rightly says, that payment has outraged customers, and I have asked Ofwat to assess its legality as a matter of urgency. I will not tolerate any company attempting to circumvent this Government’s ban on unfair bonuses through exorbitant salary increases, secret bonuses, payments through parent companies, or any other deception. If Ofwat finds that the rules have been broken, companies will face sanctions, including fines imposed at a level that will deter future abuses.

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