Water Sector: Public Ownership

Debate between Ben Maguire and Ayoub Khan

Monday 14th September 2026 Westminster Hall

[Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker.

I thank the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for opening the debate, which could not have come at a more poignant time for my constituents. Just weeks ago, flash flooding tore through properties, and more than 60 homes suffered internal flooding. In the worst cases, water reached a metre deep. Among those affected were an elderly man with limited mobility who had to leave his home, and a mother caring for her severely disabled daughter who was at risk of losing the electricity supply needed to maintain essential medical equipment. Those are just a few examples to show the severity of the challenge we face and the human cost that comes with inaction.

Worse still, the problem is not new. Perry Beeches flooded badly 10 years ago. We have known for years that the neighbourhood is vulnerable, yet our infrastructure remains unfixed, our manhole covers remain blocked and our rivers continue to flow with sewage and waste—not to mention the subsidence across our city caused by leaking water pipes. The cost of our water companies doing nothing is paid in ruined homes, destroyed possessions and frightened families.

What are my constituents paying for? Severn Trent’s average combined household bill has risen by around 10% this year, and yet constituents find themselves paying more for less. It is clear that the industry is broken when a company can record more than 36,000 sewage spills lasting more than 200,000 hours and still achieve the Environment Agency’s top environmental rating of four stars.

[Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)]

We have heard a lot about constituents getting sick; one of my Padstow constituents was hospitalised just a few weeks ago. On the hon. Member’s point about the Environment Agency’s ratings, Surfers Against Sewage says that 80% of hospitalisations come from bathing waters judged “good” or “excellent” by the Environment Agency. Does he agree that it is a nonsense to have a regulator like that?

[Ayoub Khan]

Absolutely. By way of example, how can an organisation receive a four-star rating when it is performing so badly?

Privatisation was sold on the promise that private capital would deliver investment and relieve pressure on the public purse, but with Thames Water amassing £20 billion in debt and due a Government bailout, that is clearly not the case anymore. Around the world, 90% of water is under public ownership, and yet 100% of ours is privately owned. It is not always wise to follow the crowd, but this is clearly something that we have gotten wrong.

My constituents are not asking Parliament to pretend that public ownership has no cost; they know it has a price. All they are asking us is to find out whether the price can really be greater than chronic underinvestment, rising bills, sewage-filled rivers, flooded homes and a system in which the public carry the risk while private investors take all the reward.