Stop letting water companies delay fines, urges MP

Legislation that would prevent water companies from "delaying" payment of their fines has been introduced to parliament.

Henley and Thame MP Freddie van Mierlo said he introduced the bill because the law currently "lets water companies off the hook".

It comes in the same week that the MP for Windsor, Jack Rankin, wrote to the government calling for Thames Water to be placed into special administration.

Responding to the legislation, Thames Water said any fine-payment schemes were "a matter for the regulator (Ofwat) to agree to a plan or reject it".

Explaining the new bill, that has been sponsored by three fellow Liberal Democrat MPs in Oxfordshire, van Mierlo said: "Thames Water continues to harm communities and individuals, polluting waterways and further increasing bills.

"Consumers are forced to pay for years of mismanagement, whilst Thames Water has negotiated away yet another fine.

"Without enforceable consequences for water companies' actions, nothing will change.

"It can't go on."

Van Mierlo's proposal comes after Thames Water was fined £122.7m last year - the biggest penalty ever issued by Ofwat.

The fine had initially been due to be paid in full by August 2025, but Ofwat granted a delayed-payment plan to Thames Water which could last until March 2030.

In accepting the payment plan at the time, Ofwat said it "continued to hold Thames Water to account but also recognises the company's ongoing equity raise and recapitalisation process".

Responding to the proposed legislation, Thames Water said: "Under legislation, a company may apply to Ofwat to request a payment plan, and it is then a matter for the regulator to agree to a plan or reject it."

"Thames Water takes its responsibilities to customers and the environment very seriously and is currently delivering the biggest upgrade to its network in 150 years," a spokesperson for the firm added.

The bill comes after Conservative MP Rankin broke ranks from his party's line, and called for Thames Water to be renationalised.

In a letter to the Water Minister Emma Hardy, Rankin said "water privatisation has clearly been a failure".

He said his constituency had "been at the sharp end of this issue, repeatedly suffering sewage overflows, leaks and supply outages".

"Little has changed" since the government's Water (Special Measures) Bill - which gave Ofwat increased powers to punish companies who pollute - was introduced last year, he explained.

"The fundamental issue remains: Thames Water is a failed company and should be treated as such," Rankin added.

Responding to similar calls earlier this week for water industry nationalisation, a spokesperson for the government said it was "not the answer".

Nationalising the industry would "cost taxpayers £100bn and take years to unpick the current ownership model, during which investment would dry up and sewage pollution into our rivers would get worse", the spokesperson added.

Thames Water added that special administration would "not resolve the core regulatory and structural challenges" facing the firm.

"The recapitalisation already under way would still need to be completed, but later and at a greater cost," the company explained.

"A market-led recovery remains the fastest and safest route to delivering environmental and service improvements.

"It is in the best interests of customers, taxpayers and the wider UK economy."