Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are considering bringing South East Water into public ownership.

South East Water is one of the worst performers on water supply interruptions, and it’s important that its customers receive the compensation they deserve.

The Drinking Water Inspectorate is investigating the recent supply outages and will take appropriate enforcement action where required. South East Water was already under Ofwat investigation into their supply resilience. On 15 January, Ofwat announced a new investigation into South East Water’s compliance with the licence condition regarding customer service. The customer licence condition gives Ofwat powers to act against a water company which fails to provide appropriate support to its customers. This is the first investigation Ofwat has launched on the customer-focused licence condition.

Unravelling the current ownership model would cost the taxpayer around £100 billion and take years. Instead, we are focusing on tackling the real problems with the water industry with our root and branch reforms that will clean up the nation’s polluted waterways, turn around the sector’s performance and restore trust and accountability.