Labour‘s environment secretary has warned that water bills for already struggling families will have to rise by at least 20 per cent to fix Britain’s ‘broken’ sewage system.
Steve Reed admitted that British citizens will be ‘angry’ at the rise, which is expected to be £100 on average over the next five years.
Reed, writing in the Telegraph, said the major increase was needed to ‘repair the damage’ caused by years of neglect and under-investment, adding that he promised the additional money would go towards fixing leaky pipes and building reservoirs instead of paying executives their bonuses.
The environment secretary accused the Tory party of leaving ‘our water system in ruins’, and warned that water rationing may be needed in as little as 15 years without new investment.
He wrote: ‘This week, the independent water regulator will announce water bill rises to. The public are right to be angry. Tory recklessness has caused untold damage.’
He added that the Tories, ousted earlier this year for the first time in 14 years, failed to invest in infrastructure while raw sewage that was let into ‘our rivers, lakes and seas [that] are choked by pollution’.
He added that money from customers had been used to ‘line the pockets of executives and shareholders’ rather than improving the system.
‘If you see cracks in the wall of your house and do nothing about it for years, the problem gets worse and you end up paying more,’ he said. ‘That’s what’s happened with our crumbling water and sewage system. Customers have been left to pay the price of Conservative failure.’
Steve Reed (pictured) admitted that British citizens will be ‘angry’ at the rise, which is expected to be on £100 on average over the next five years
Dead fish seen littering Spring Dyke in Norfolk
Sewage seen floating in the Thames near Windsor, Berkshire
Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary disputed this, telling the newspaper: ‘Labour spent years making promises to the public about improving waterways yet, six months after the election, all they do is talk about the Conservatives. Labour’s lack of energy and action will not wash when bills rise on their watch.
‘The Conservatives began the crucial reform to ensure that in the long-term Britain’s water system is clean and sustainable – that requires billions of pounds of private of investment if bill-payers are to be protected.
‘The Government must work out what it’s doing and who will pay for this investment, or our water bills will keep rising under Labour.’
Ofwat, the UK’s water regulator, is expected to officially announce the major increase on Thursday.
They will be coming amid a slew of Labour-backed bills the party says are designed to benefit British taxpayers.
Reforms will be put in place to ringfence money from bill increases to be spent on new infrastructure, and that cash not spent on this would automatically be returned to customers in the form of a bills discount.
The environment secretary said he will also be pushing through new legislation that mandates reporting on sewage leaks.
The new law would meant that water bosses who refuse to cooperate with investigations into spillage face prison time.
Citizen science volunteer from the ‘Henley River Action Group’, David Wallace, holds a sample testing river water for nitrogen levels while conducting water-quality testing on the River Thames on July 12, 2023 in Henley-on-Thames
Rivers have been allowed to fester for years amid chronic under-investment
Litter strewn for miles along the River Soar, Leicester, on January 10, 2024
‘This is a once in a generation chance to reset our water sector and deliver the change we all want to see,’ he wrote. ‘After years of pollution and decline it’s time to invest in new opportunities and restore our clean rivers, lakes and seas.’
Earlier this year, brazen water bosses put in a request to increase bills by up to 84%.
All eleven water and wastewater firms originally requested bill rises to the regulator in July, but these figures have now been revised by the companies.
Taken together, the companies want bills to rise 40% on average and cost £615 a year by 2030, compared to the current average bill of £439 a year.
This is despite the fact that water bosses have been given eyewatering bonuses.
Thames Water’s chief executive defended bosses sharing £770,000 in bonuses despite the firm battling a huge debt mountain and pumping out even more sewage.
Chris Weston insisted ‘competitive packages’ are needed to attract ‘talent’ to work at his crisis-stricken company even though regulators said the payouts were unjustified.
Mr Weston took on the job in January and was awarded a £195,000 bonus for his first three months at the firm.
Ofwat revealed last month that Thames Water was planning to use customer cash to pay bosses’ bonuses, but ruled that it was not ‘justified’.
The firm is in about £16billion of debt and is trying to secure another £3billion to keep it running beyond mid-next year.
