Future of Thames Water Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Clive Jones
Main Page: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)Department Debates - View all Clive Jones's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(4 weeks, 1 day ago)
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Charlie Maynard
Absolutely. The consumers are getting the raw deal, and there is no end in sight.
To qualify as an ultimate controller—it is a defined term—a party need only have material influence over Thames Water. The creditor consortium right now is negotiating bilaterally with the company, and has put in £3 billion, but somehow that does not make it meet the criterion. It is ridiculous, and frankly, seeing this failure play out was probably the single moment when I most despaired of government and the rule of law. I repeatedly ask the same question, and repeatedly do not get an answer. I find it really, really bad.
Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
Residents in Wokingham are absolutely sick of the failures of Thames Water’s management. In 2025 alone, Thames Water committed 74 sewage spills, for a duration of 684 hours. That means that Thames Water dumped sewage for the equivalent of 456 football matches, and there were certainly no clean sheets. No waterway in Wokingham is safe—
Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)
Order. The hon. Gentleman should be aware that interventions should be short, spontaneous and perhaps not pre-typed and three pages long.