Thames Water

[Kirk]

I'm a Dwr Cymru/Welsh Water customer.
I'm not a massive fan, but am happier it's not stuffing shareholders pockets rather than stuffing its customers, like English companies.
I had an issue some years ago that was only resolved by emailing the MD direct - the lower echelons of DC, and NRW were useless, for several years. Two days after the email there were operatives in our lane, a few weeks later they chucked over a million at a sewage works for some of the houses on our lane. Not our house...
Still, at least the field next to us was no longer awash with raw sewage.

Yes, they do seem to be doing a good job overall having read a bit more about them but they do have issues like the other water companies; not on the same scale as some of course. I suspect though, no matter the system - private, public, non-profit or a 4th way, there will be issues.

 

[ks.234]

Jeremy Hunt is a terribly confused man​

Posted on April 18 2024

Jeremy Hunt is a terribly confused man. The FT has a report on comments he has made on Thames Water this morning. At the heart of this is a suggestion that:

The company needed “to sort out their own issues.”

They noted that he added:

“What we're never going to do for people who invest in the UK is say that the state is going to insure you against bad decisions made by management or shareholders. That's what markets are about.”

They also report him saying:

It would be “completely wrong” if customers at Britain's biggest water group had to pick up the tab for bad decisions made by its managers or owners.

Poor old Jeremy. He thinks he knows how all this works, and he either clearly does not, or is in denial of doing so.

First of all, there is no market for water. The consumer has no choice. The price the supplier might charge is set by a regulator. And that same regulator has a great deal to say about how the company might operate and what is required of it. If he thinks this is how markets work, he is seriously deluded.

That said, reading between the lines, what he is saying is that there will be no bailout for Thames Water and no extra charges on consumers to keep it afloat.

That, I stress, is a perfectly acceptable position to take. But it leaves one problem, which is that, however it is looked at, the supply of water within the Thames Water region is not operationally possible with acceptable levels of pollution within the framework that regulators permit, politicians will accept, and private capital will finance right now. That circle cannot be squared. There is literally no solution that reconciles those positions bar one, and that is a state subsidy for the massive investment required, with state ownership being necessary as a result.

Is that where Hunt stands? He does not say. As a result, he comes over as a rather confused, figuratively little man, standing on the sidelines of an issue where he holds all the trump cards and the ultimate decision-making power whilst refusing to do anything.
He looks like a Tory minister in that case.

Or, perhaps more accurately these days, a politician from one of the UK's leading parties.

Decisions are required here. Hunt is pretending that they should be made by anyone but him. Why did he ever seek high office?

Jeremy Hunt is a terribly confused man

Jeremy Hunt is a terribly confused man. The FT has a report on comments he has made on Thames Water this morning. At the heart of this is a suggestion that: The company needed “to sort out their own issues.” They noted that he added: “What we’re never going to do for people...

www.taxresearch.org.uk

 

[ks.234]

How Privatisation works. When Water is privatised Public money pays company debts, and offers a bung.

The newly created, privately owned, water and sewerage companies (WSCs) paid £7.6 billion for the regional water authorities. At the same time, the government assumed responsibility for the sector's total debts amounting to £5 billion and granted the WSCs a further £1.5 billion—a so-called "green dowry"—of public funds.[17]

When Water is nationalised, public money again pays the debt and compensates shareholders

Thames Water could be taken over by the Government, with its £15 billion debt added to the public purse

 

[gavreid]

Meanwile the lies about sewage go further and deeper than was thought...

‘Dirty secret’: insiders say UK water firms knowingly break sewage laws

Exclusive: Whistleblowers point to broader sewage scandal, with wastewater systems manipulated to divert sewage

www.theguardian.com