Water firm shareholder payouts unfair, PM says

Sir Keir Starmer has said payouts to Thames Water shareholders are unfair amid rising bills.

The prime minister made the comments after meeting members of the public to discuss cost of living at Emmer Green Community Centre in Reading, Berkshire.

In November, Thames Water was one of six water companies blocked from paying bonuses to bosses over serious pollution incidents and other performance issues.

In response to the PM's comments, Thames Water said it was investing £20bn between 2025 and 2030 to upgrade its network and that it had paid no dividends or performance-related payments to executive directors last year.

The company was fined £122.7m in May for breaching rules over sewage spills and shareholder payouts.

Speaking during the Berkshire visit, Sir Keir said: "The blunt question that was put to me just now is, 'is it fair that my bill under Thames Water is going up... when there are payouts for water companies?' To which I said 'no it is not'.

"That's why we're putting through legislation that says there won't be bonuses for shareholders.

"The focus has to be on getting bills down, which is where it should be, and of course cleaning up the terrible sewage that has happened on far too many occasions. I can feel the frustration.

"My reassurance is that we're putting in place the legislation to tackle this issue and make sure that we don't get any more of those examples of huge bonuses to those at the top of the water businesses at the same time as increased bills for those that often don't have a choice about where they get their water from."

In response to the PM's comments, a Thames Water spokesperson said the company had "embarked upon the biggest upgrade of its network in 150 years".

"Every penny currently earned is being reinvested into the business to meet our commitments to customers and the environment," the spokesperson said.

"We are using the extra funding to address our customers' priorities that we maintain safe, high quality drinking water, fix and upgrade leaky pipes, and invest in our sewage treatment works and network to improve river health."