Water Sector: Public Ownership Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Warinder Juss
Main Page: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)Department Debates - View all Warinder Juss's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Water Sector: Public Ownership
Warinder Juss Excerpts(1 month ago)
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Paul Davies
I will make some progress, and then I will.
The current model is absolutely an economic failure. Private companies have paid out, in 2024 prices, around £83 billion—an average of £2.4 billion a year—as dividends, while loading the companies in debt. Often, those loans were taken out simply to increase the amount of cash extracted as dividends when profits alone were not enough. As we know, crucial infrastructure has been left to fail. Not a single new reservoir has been built since 1992, and water companies have overseen the waste of around 3 billion litres of water a day through leaky pipes.
Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)
Last year, Severn Trent reported profits of £850 million, which is an increase of 45% on the previous year, yet my constituents’ water bills have risen by around 10%. There have also been occasions when Severn Trent has not been as quick to carry out repairs as it could have been. Does my hon. Friend agree that the situation needs to change, so that monopoly providers do not make huge profits at the expense of hard-working families while public confidence in the sector continues to decline?
Paul Davies
I absolutely agree. As my hon. Friend will hear throughout my speech, the evidence clearly shows us that the model is failing in a range of areas. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale) and the right hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes) want to get in; I will make a little progress first, then I will give way.
The model has also been an environmental disaster. In 2024, under the administration of water companies, raw sewage was discharged into rivers and seas in England for a record 3.61 million hours. In the first six months of this year alone, raw sewage was discharged into rivers and seas during dry weather a total of 7,280 times.