Fury as customers’ water bills go towards debt and dividends | UK | News

Over a third of customers’ bills for water in England and Wales are not used for water and sewerage services, researchers have revealed. An average of 35% of customer bills in 2023-2024 was taken out to pay for the interest on water companies’ debt piles and to pay dividends to the shareholders, experts at the University of Greenwich found.

Lead researcher Professor David Hall said: “Consumers and the environment would be far better off if the companies were transferred to the public sector. 82% of the public, across all political parties, recognise this when they say they are in favour of public ownership. Over 90% of the world runs water and sewerage services in the public sector. Yet the government has forbidden its own commission reviewing the water sector in England and Wales to even consider public ownership. It undermines the credibility of the commission and the public interest. That restriction should be removed immediately.”

Households in England and Wales will pay £10 more on average on their monthly water bills from April. The rise will see the average annual bill hit £603 but there are significant variations between regions.

The Greenwich University report was commissioned by public ownership campaign group We Own It. It said: “The cost of financing water and sewerage systems is a significant element in the size of customer bills.

“The financial expenses of a company are the costs of servicing the debts of the water companies – interest payments, and the increase in inflation-linked debts – and the costs of dividends paid out to shareholders who own the company.

“Unlike salaries or capital expenditure, these payments do not provide any water and sewerage services, nor investment: the money flows out of the system altogether, straight through to the shareholders and creditors.

“So there is a conflict between customers who want to minimise these financing costs and the shareholders and creditors who want to maximise them as a return on capital.”

Meanwhile Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave has called for urgent action to clean up the River Thames in a letter to Environment Secretary Steve Reed.

He will on Tuesday deliver a letter to the Cabinet Minister as nearly 3,000 young rowers gather for the Schools’ Head of the River Race.

The retired rower said: “The Schools’ Head of the River Race is a fantastic event, but rowers need to be aware of the serious health risks posed by polluted water. By following these safety guidelines, we can help minimise the risk, but this situation is completely unacceptable. We need urgent action to stop sewage discharges and protect the health of everyone using our rivers.”

Campaign group River Action said Thames Water allowed 133 hours of human sewage to enter the section of the Thames used for the Schools Head of the River Race.

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: “Over the next five years we will deliver a record amount of investment to address our ageing infrastructure. This includes £1.8 billion to improve river health in London. In addition, the Tideway Tunnel and associated upgrades come into full operation in 2025 and will capture 95% of the untreated sewage currently entering the tidal Thames in a typical year.