Reform council leader calls for recovery fund after 'catastrophic' water failure

The leader of Kent County Council has called for a government-backed recovery fund to help those impacted by local water issues.

Customers in the Tunbridge Wells area started to have a lack of water pressure on 29 November, and they were later told to boil their tap water.

Council leader Linden Kemkaran, of Reform UK, labelled the incident a "catastrophic failure".

Water Minister Emma Hardy said she had spoken to the CEO of South East Water (SEW) and made it clear that the disruption was unacceptable, and that the Drinking Water Inspectorate was undertaking a full investigation.

Kemkaran said a government-backed recovery fund should provide '"meaningful and urgent financial relief".

"The impact on the daily lives of our residents, local businesses, and key services such as health, education, and social care provision has been profound and has threatened the viability of our local economy," she said.

The leader added that SEW repeatedly failed to meet its own restoration timelines as residents endured "an experience that simply should not occur in a modern developed country".

"Local businesses, particularly in the hospitality and retail sectors, have suffered significant financial losses during what should have been their busiest trading period in the run-up to Christmas," she added.

Kemkaran said she was worried standard compensation levels would fall short of covering residents' losses.

"While I note the government's recent strengthening of the Guaranteed Standards Scheme, this scheme was never designed to address the scale and duration of disruption experienced in this incident," she explained.

The council leader said residents had received £50 from SEW, which had been credited into their accounts.

"Our residents, communities, and businesses should not have to foot the bill for the systemic and repeated failures by SEW, or live with the continuing risk of further outages from an organisation that has failed on more than one occasion," Kemkaran added.

The council leader has also called on the government to ensure SEW prioritises a permanent resolution, to work with Ofwat and the Drinking Water Inspectorate to ensure an investigation is carried out, and to consider legislative or regulatory reforms.

In July, the government said severe issues such as flooding would see customers given compensation up to £2,000, while households suffering consistent low water pressure will be automatically eligible to receive up to £250.

Hardy said: "Protecting water customers is my top priority.

"I have chaired a multi-agency strategic response group and insisted that every possible step be taken to restore supplies, and that bottled water stations remain available while SEW keeps all affected customers fully informed.

"This government has strengthened compensation rules, more than doubling payments so those affected are properly reimbursed for this disruption."

Tanya Sephton, SEW's customer services director, said the company was fully committed to compensating customers fairly.

"We want to ensure that every single customer and business receives exactly what they are entitled to," she said.

"We are still working hard to fully resolve the issues in Tunbridge Wells and will provide further information on both Guaranteed Standards of Service payments and this separate fund at the earliest opportunity."

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